On January 2, 2026, the NBA announced that Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg won the Western Conference KIA Rookie of the Month award for December.
The NBA has announced that Cooper Flagg has been named the Kia Western Conference Rookie of the Month for December. This marks his second consecutive month receiving this award, making him the third Maverick player to earn consecutive Rookie of the Month honors.
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) January 2, 2026
This is Flagg’s second Rookie of the Month award in a row, and so far in both his young career and the NBA’s season, he has won every Western Conference Rookie of the Month award. His stats saw a significant increase in comparison to his last rookie of the month award, which was given for the combined months of October and November.
In Oct-Nov, his stats were 16.7 Points, 6.6 Rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. These stats come from some of his first games in the league, including the nationally televised game against the San Antonio Spurs on Oct 22, 2025, which would be Flagg’s NBA debut game.
However, it wouldn’t take Flagg long to start having flashes of the pure talent he showed during his time with the Duke Blue Devils, and after some time to adjust to the differences that come with College Basketball and the NBA.
In December, Cooper Flagg would secure the rookie of the month by averaging 23.5 points, 6.2 Rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game, a significant rise in the points per game category as a result of Flagg being comfortable with his game.
Highlighting a record-breaking performance on December 15, in which Flagg scored a whopping 42 points in a game versus the Utah Jazz. In this game, Cooper Flagg would break LeBron James’s record for the most points scored by an 18-year-old. Flagg would help the Mavericks to wins in December as well, most notably being a win against the Denver Nuggets on December 23, putting up 33 points and nine assists.
With more experience under his belt, the Rookie of the Month award will continue to stack up for Flagg, and if he continues to grow his game, his eyes should be set on the Rookie of the Year award.
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