One of the main storylines entering this NBA season was the Rookie of the Year race, with Dallas Mavericks number one overall draft pick Cooper Flagg expected by most to be the favorite for the award. Flagg has had a strong start to the year and does appear to be in the driver's seat to win the award, but he has some stiff competition in his old Duke Blue Devils teammate and current Charlotte Hornets shooting guard, Kon Knueppel.
Recently, the NBA announced that Flagg had won Western Conference Rookie of the Month for November, and Knueppel had won for the Eastern Conference, and in the process, the duo made a bit of league history.
“This marks the first time in NBA history that both Rookies of the Month are from the same college,” reported NBA insider Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints on X, formerly Twitter.
Flagg is currently averaging an even 17 points a game to go along with 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists, and although he hasn't found the range from beyond the arc yet, he's still shooting a decent 46.6 percent from the field overall.
Meanwhile, Knueppel is averaging 18.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3 assists per game for the Hornets, and is shooting 41.5% from beyond the three-point line, which is outstanding for any player, let alone a rookie. Knueppel recently took advantage of some shockingly bad defense from Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram to send that game into overtime, where the Hornets eventually won it in upset fashion.
While VJ Edgecome has also been worthy of consideration, right now, the Rookie of the Year race figures to be between Flagg and Knueppel, making it all the more puzzling that Duke wasn't able to finish the job and win a championship last season.
The Mavericks and Hornets will face off for the first time this regular season on January 29.
