How close was Kon Knueppel to ROY? Voting results revealed
Despite leading the Rookie of the Year Award race for most of the season, Kon Knueppel finished second for the award Monday night.
Former Duke star Cooper Flagg was named as the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year Monday night, barely edging out former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel. That said, how close was the race between the two first-year phenoms? It was quite close.
Knueppel finished 26 points behind Flagg, the equivalent of five first-place votes and one third-place vote. In total, Flagg received 412 votes, 56 first-place votes, and 44 second-place votes. Knueppel received 386 points, 44 first-place votes, 55 second-place votes and one third-place vote.
VJ Edgecombe of the Philadelphia 76ers rounded out the top three but was miles away from the Duke duo, finishing with 96 points. While it appeared throughout the majority of the year that Knueppel would win the award, Flagg's late surge proved enough to take home the hardware. This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: How close was Kon Knueppel to ROY?
Voting results revealed