The Charlotte sharpshooter had a forgetful play-in tournament debut.
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg and Charlotte Hornets shooting guard Kon Knueppel have gone from Duke roommates last year to the two frontrunners jockeying for the Rookie of the Year award in their first season in the NBA.
Flagg's all-around impact was the driving force behind any success the Mavs had this season, and Knueppel's 3-point shooting has been among the best in the entire league to - along with help from emerging stars - allow the Hornets to make a large win improvement this season.
Dallas' season, and thus any final chances for the 19-year-old Flagg to grow his candidacy for the rookie award, have come and gone. That made Charlotte's play-in tournament game against the Miami Heat on Tuesday night all the more important for Kneuppel's case.
Except, he turned in one of the worst performances of anyone on the floor ... and his team still won.
The Hornets' No. 4 overall pick recorded just six points on a rough 2-of-12 shooting overall. He missed all six of his 3-point attempts to go with five rebounds and an assist in 34 minutes of action.
Charlotte nearly choked the game away with a fouled 3-point attempt that put them down in the final moments, but electric point guard LaMelo Ball bounced back from his inexcusable foul to hit the game-winning layup in a 127-126 final that advances the Hornets to play either the Philadelphia 76ers or Orlando Magic on Friday.
Knueppel's main case for his Rookie of the Year status has been his above-average efficiency numbers and the fact that his team's seen a massive one-year turnaround. This outing, however, proves that the latter point should not be factored into this battle with Flagg.
Commentator Stan Van Gundy, a media member who allegedly voted for Flagg in a release of early ROY tallies, noted how Knueppel wasn't even on the court for Charlotte in crunch time scenarios when they needed a three. He's hit more triples than anyone in the Association, but after a -20 plus-minus in the game, wasn't trusted to impact the final moments.
I understand how it could be comparing apples to oranges, but that reality would never come into play for Flagg, who led the Mavericks in total points, rebounds, assists and steals this season.
Going back to the preliminary reports of who has voted for whom (however, before the play-in game), Van Gundy and The Ringer's Rob Mahoney are the only two sources who have appeared to vote for Flagg out of eight. The others, including ESPN's Kendrick Perkins, Yahoo's Dan Devine, and NBC Sports' Kurt Helin, have chosen Knueppel.
I know the determination shouldn't be placed on postseason performance, but Flagg's statistics are overwhelmingly more impressive than Knueppel's during the regular year, too, not to mention the context of him carrying his team unlike anything we've seen for a player of that age since LeBron James in Cleveland two decades ago.
This play-in showing by Knueppel could be the harshest national reminder that it isn't too late for the 100 media members to truly consider who this year's top rookie was.
