Hornets wing Kon Knueppel has won a fourth consecutive Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month award, the NBA announced today (via Twitter). No other Eastern rookie has earned the honor in 2025/26, as Knueppel has now claimed the award in October/November, December, January, and February.
Knueppel continued to solidify his case for Rookie of the Year recognition by leading Charlotte to an 8-3 record in 11 games in February. He averaged 21.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 31.5 minutes per game while knocking down more than half of his field goal attempts (50.3%).
Perhaps most impressively, Knueppel made 49-of-101 three-pointers, averaging 4.5 makes per game at a 48.5% clip.
Knueppel had shared Rookie of the Month honors with his former Duke teammate Cooper Flagg three times in a row, but with Flagg sidelined for much of February due to a foot injury, Spurs guard Dylan Harper became the first non-Blue Devil to break through this season, earning the Rookie of the Month award in the West.
Harper’s Spurs didn’t lose a single game in February, going 10-0 when he was active. The No. 2 overall pick registered 12.5 PPG, 4.9 APG, and 3.9 RPG in 25.1 MPG while shooting 55.4% from the floor. San Antonio had a +21.0 net rating during Harper’s 252 minutes on the court in February.
Sixers guard VJ Edgecombe, Wizards forward Will Riley, and Nets guard Nolan Traore were also nominated for Rookie of the Month in the Eastern Conference, while Jazz forward Ace Bailey, Grizzlies guard Javon Small, Kings big man Maxime Raynaud, and Mavericks forward Flagg were the other nominees in the West, per the league (Twitter link).
Obviously Kon Knueppel’s body of work as a rookie, breaking three point shooting records, his availability and now the Hornets long yearned for success makes him the easy Rookie of the Year.
Knuepppel:
Game high, points: 34
Game score high: 31.1
Flagg:
Game high, points: 49
Game score high: 40.1
Flagg is literally better than Knueppel, and has had a better season. Flagg should be ROY because he has had better games than Knueppel, while being on a worse team. Its not healthiest rookie of the year, like you are arguing.
And he could be the first rookie ever to lead the league in threes. Hard to argue with him as a choice. I like VJ a lot, but I am a Sixers fan, and objectively I’m not sure anyone deserves it more than Kon.
Kon over Flagg, by a bit.
“The Kon” ROY
great pick.
Flagg could still get the statue for ROY but he’d have to come back pretty soon and play some good volume minutes to snatch it from his Duke teammate imo, and Dallas has no reason to care whether that happens; and if Kon gets to 50-40-90 shooting it’s a wrap. Flagg is obviously a better and more dynamic player overall and big picture, but that’s not necessarily what ROY voting is all about..Flaggs got no shortage of career accolades coming his way assuming he doesn’t flame out due to injuries