Cooper Flagg’s historic scoring gets Bam Adebayo ‘feeding’ comparison from Brian Windhorst

As the NBA Rookie of the Year race is seemingly between Dallas Mavericks star Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets, there have been many who believe the latter is the clear and away winner. While Flagg had a 96-point frenzy last weekend for the Mavericks, there could be some who think the race is closer, though Brian Windhorst has some interesting thoughts on the matter.

Speaking on his podcast “The Hoop Collective,” he would say about how a poll from ESPN’s Tim Bontemps had Knueppel having a “commanding lead” over Flagg, leading to Dallas feeding the ball to the rookie more. Windhorst would even go as far as to make the comparison that the team was forcefully giving the ball more to Flagg, as the Heat did to Bam Adebayo during his historic 83-point game.

“Say whatever you want to say, when Bontemps’ poll came out last week, and it showed that Kon Knueppel had a commanding lead, the next game, the Mavericks were basically feeding Cooper flag like he was Bam Adebayo,” Windhorst said, via HornetsReddit on X, formerly Twitter. “And I’m not taking anything away from his 50-point game. I’m just stating those two things happened, and then he had, like, a high point game after that.”

@WindhorstESPN: "Say whatever you want to say… when @TimBontemps' poll came out last week and it showed that Kon Knueppel had a commanding lead [for ROTY], the next game the Mavericks were basically feeding Cooper Flagg like he was Bam Adebayo." pic.twitter.com/g77adHvOWz

— r/CharlotteHornets (@HornetsReddit) April 10, 2026

Brian Windhorst speaks more on the Mavericks’ usage of Cooper Flagg

Windhorst is referring to the game where Flagg scored 51 points on April 3 in the loss to the Orlando Magic, shooting 19 of 30 from the field. Flagg followed up with a 45-point game a few nights later against the Los Angeles Lakers, shooting 14 of 26 from the field, though Windhorst questions his usage in Wednesday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns.

“Do not worry, the Mavericks aren’t going crazy,” Windhorst said. “Last night…they’re playing in Phoenix. It’s a one-possession game, like, three minutes to go. Cooper Flagg is on the bench. Let’s not get crazy and try to have Cooper flag win you a game. Oh no, get him 50 in a loss. Sorry, I digress.”

It remains to be seen if Flagg will win Rookie of the Year over Knueppel.

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