Dallas Mavericks star Cooper Flagg won NBA Rookie of the Year on Monday.
The No. 1 overall pick this season held off Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel, the No. 4 overall pick and Flagg’s former teammate at Duke.
Flagg received 56 first-place votes and 412 total points in the voting. Knueppel got the other 44 first-place votes and finished with 386 points. The NBA said it was the second-smallest gap since the current voting format began in 2002-03, beaten only by 2021-22 when Toronto’s Scottie Barnes edged Cleveland’s Evan Mobley by five first-place votes and 15 points
Flagg, a 6-foot-9 forward, averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 70 games this season. He is the first rookie to lead his team in those four categories since Michael Jordan in 1984-85.
The 6-6 Knueppel averaged just behind Flagg in those major categories with 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 0.7 steals in 81 games, but he shot 42.5% on 3-pointers compared to Flagg’s 29.5.
The other main argument in favor of Knueppel centers on team performance. Charlotte went 44-38 and nearly made the playoffs, reaching the final play-in game of the Eastern Conference, while Dallas went 26-56 to finish 12th in the Western Conference in a dismal season.
Flagg was the prohibitive favorite to win Rookie of the Year for most of the season. Knueppel made a late surge to favorite status amid the Hornets’ postseason push before Flagg swung the odds back in his favor by scoring 51, 45 and 33 points in three of his final six games.
Game schedule dates, times, locations
NEXT UP: Game dates, times, locations, channel
Rangers ▶
April 21 Rangers 5, Pittsburgh 1
April 22 Pittsburgh 8, Rangers 4
April 23 Rangers 6, Pittsburgh 1
April 24 Athletics 8, Rangers 1
April 25 Rangers 4, Athletics 3
April 26 Athletics 2, Rangers 1
April 27 vs. N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m., RSN
April 28 vs. N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m., RSN
April 29 vs. N.Y. Yankees, 1:35 p.m., RSN
May 1 at Detroit, 5:40 p.m., RSN
May 2 at Detroit, 6:15 p.m., Fox
May 3 at Detroit, 6:20 p.m., NBCSN, Peacock
TCU Baseball ▶
April 17 Baylor 11, TCU 4
April 19 TCU 5, Baylor 4 (doubleheader)
April 19 TCU 10, Baylor 2 (doubleheader)
April 21 TCU 6, Dallas Baptist 5 (10 innings)
April 24 TCU 8, Houston 3
April 25 TCU 4, Houston 2
April 26 TCU 14, Houston 2 (7 innings)
April 29 vs. UT Arlington, 6 p.m., ESPN+
May 1 at Oklahoma State, 6 p.m., ESPN+
May 2 at Oklahoma State, 6 p.m., ESPN+
May 3 at Oklahoma State, 1 p.m., ESPN+
Stars ▶
First-round playoff series (series tied 2-2)
Game 1: April 18 Minnesota 6, Stars 1
Game 2: April 20 Stars 4, Minnesota 2
Game 3: April 22 Stars 4, Minnesota 3 (2OT)
Game 4: April 25 Minnesota 3, Stars 2 (OT)
Game 5: April 28 vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m., ESPN2, Victory+
Game 6: April 30 at Minnesota, TBA
Game 7 (if necessary): May 2 vs. Minnesota, TBA
Wings▶
April 30 at Indiana (preseason), 6 p.m., Ion
May 3 vs. Las Vegas (at Austin) (preseason), 6 p.m., Ion
May 9 at Indiana, noon, ABC
May 12 vs. Atlanta, 7 p.m., KFAA
May 14 vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m., Amazon Prime Video
TCU Football ▶
2026 season
Aug. 29 vs. North Carolina (at Dublin), TBA
Sept. 12 vs. Grambling State, TBA
Sept. 19 vs. Arkansas State, TBA
Sept. 26 at Central Florida, TBA
Oct. 3 vs. BYU, TBA
Oct. 17 at Baylor, TBA
Oct. 24 vs. West Virginia, TBA
Oct. 31 vs. Kansas, TBA
Nov. 6 at Arizona, TBA
Nov. 14 vs. Kansas State, TBA
Nov. 21 vs. Utah, TBA
Nov. 26 at Texas Tech, TBA
Cowboys ▶
2026 season
Sept. 27 vs. Baltimore (at Rio de Janeiro), 3:25 p.m.
2026 opponents (dates and times TBA; one home game will be in Rio)
vs. N.Y Giants
vs. Philadelphia
vs. Washington
vs. Arizona
vs. San Francisco
vs. Tampa Bay
vs. Jacksonville
vs. Tennessee
vs. Baltimore
at N.Y Giants
at Philadelphia
at Washington
at L.A. Rams
at Seattle
at Green Bay
at Houston
at Indianapolis
FC Dallas ▶
March 21 FC Dallas 4, Houston 3
April 4 FC Dallas 4, D.C. United 0
April 11 FC Dallas 1, St. Louis 1
April 18 FC Dallas 2, LA Galaxy 2
April 22 Minnesota 1, FC Dallas 0
April 25 at Seattle, 9:30 p.m., Apple TV
May 2 at NY Red Bulls, 6:30 p.m., Apple TV
May 9 vs. Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m., Apple TV
May 13 vs. Vancouver, 7:30 p.m., Apple TV
May 16 at San Jose, 9:30 p.m., Apple TV
Texas Motor Speedway ▶
April 23-25 Pate Swap Meet
April 25 FuelFest
April 30-May 2 High Limit Racing Stockyard Stampede
May 1 NASCAR Truck Series: SpeedyCash.com 250
May 2 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series: Andy's Frozen Custard 340
May 3 NASCAR Cup Series: Wurth 400
This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 6:18 PM.
Jim Barnes is the Star-Telegram’s sports editor. A Fort Worth native and graduate of Castleberry High School, he returned to Texas after 13 years at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He previously was sports editor of the Waco Tribune-Herald and a freelance high school sports reporter for The Dallas Morning News.
