Cooper Flagg Wins NBA Rookie of the Year as Thunder Sweep Suns Into the Second Round
Monday proved to be a landmark day in the 2026 NBA Playoffs and awards season, with two major storylines dominating the headlines — Cooper Flagg claiming the prestigious Rookie of the Year award, and the Oklahoma City Thunder completing a ruthless sweep of the Phoenix Suns to advance to the Western Conference semi-finals.
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg was named the 2025-26 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, earning the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy. The award came in one of the most hotly contested races in recent memory. Flagg edged out former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets, marking the first time players from the same college team finished first and second in voting. Flagg received 412 total points in the ballot, with Knueppel finishing just 26 points behind — the second-closest finish in Rookie of the Year history under the current voting format.
Flagg averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game, and was the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1984-85 to lead his team in all four of those categories. He is the second-youngest player in league history to claim the award, behind only LeBron James, and becomes the third Maverick to win Rookie of the Year, joining Jason Kidd and Luka Dončić.
Meanwhile, on the playoff front, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points as the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder swept into the second round with a 131-122 victory at Phoenix. It marks the third consecutive first-round sweep for the Thunder, having previously dispatched Memphis and New Orleans in 2025 and 2024 respectively — with head coach Mark Daigneault yet to lose a single first-round game in his NBA career.
The Thunder will now await the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Houston Rockets series, with LA holding a 3-1 advantage heading into Game 5. With the reigning champions in ominous form and Gilgeous-Alexander operating at MVP level, the rest of the Western Conference has been put firmly on notice.