Mark Cuban delivers Cooper Flagg message Rookie of the Year voters can't ignore

With the NBA Rookie of the Year award set to be announced any day now, Dallas Mavericks fans all over have been clamoring for Cooper Flagg to receive the award after a dominant rookie season. Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban obviously agrees heavily with this sentiment, as he gave an exclusive quote to The Smoking Cuban regarding why Flagg deserves the honor following Flagg's 51-point outing versus the Orlando Magic on April 3.

"Coop can do it all," Cuban said. "He finds a way to contribute the way his team needs it. He understands time and score. He knows when the game is on the line, how to impact it. But of all the other great rookies, Cooper has had to carry the biggest load and was depended on by his teammates, more than any other rookies."

Cuban delivers blunt message as to why Cooper Flagg deserves ROTY

"You can see their trust in him, and they understood how he made them better. You rarely see that from a rookie and never from a 19 yr old. That makes him Rookie of the Year."

While Mavericks fans have had their disagreements with Cuban plenty of times, this is something they'll have no gripes with, as Cuban hit the nail on the head in terms of why Flagg deserves the award compared to someone like Kon Knueppel or VJ Edgecombe.

Flagg's betting odds to win the award jumped drastically in his favor over the last week of the season per FanDuel Sportsbook, as he had consecutive 51-point and 45-point games in the last few games of the regular season. Flagg is undeniably more versatile compared to any rookie in the 2025 draft class, even if Knueppel had a fair argument at one point because of his outside shooting steadiness and helping elevate the Charlotte Hornets' record.

With the award bound to be announced soon, Mavericks fans and Cuban will be extremely disappointed if voters somehow select Knueppel to win the award, as his win-shares argument isn't nearly as valuable now, considering the Hornets ultimately missed the playoffs. To Cuban's point, Flagg did more with less in Dallas, and none of the other top candidates had to plow through the amount of adversity that Flagg did in his rookie season.

Why Voters will regret choosing Knueppel over Flagg

Flagg was far better offensively than anyone could've expected coming out of college, and he does all the little things to give his team a shot at the end of the day. If Flagg had even close to the same level roster as Edgecombe or Knueppel did, he would've carried Dallas to the playoffs in a tough Western Conference.

Flagg's approach to the game is uncanny for a 19-year-old, and he possesses all the stars to be one of the all-time greats if he stays on his current trajectory. The NBA's voters for Rookie of the Year will ultimately regret not giving Flagg the award should Knueppel win, as Flagg was better in every aspect this season compared to Knueppel, besides outside shooting, advanced offensive stats, and win shares.

Rookie of the Year has never been contingent upon a team's winning percentage for the most part, so the media members voting for the award need to do the right thing and make Flagg the victor. He has the backing of Cuban, the entire Mavericks organization, as well as all Mavericks fans, as they've gotten to see just how impactful he is on both ends on a night-to-night basis.

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