00:00And maybe the tightest race is rookie of the year.
00:04A couple of Duke teammates who, you know,
00:09do they expect to be in this situation?
00:11I'm not so sure.
00:14And, man, it is a really interesting one, right?
00:21Coach, when we take a look at the arguments for Cooper Flagg
00:26and for Khan Knipple, they are not, they are not,
00:32it's not the same, right?
00:35And I think a lot of the Cooper case is people basically being like,
00:39he's better at basketball, and I'm going to vote for the better player.
00:45Because in three years from now, with respect to Khan Knipple,
00:50we don't expect Cooper and Khan to be the debate we're having.
00:54I think people would more so expect Cooper and Wemby to be the debate we're having here.
01:00So, you know, there's an element of winning that comes into play, I think,
01:08for people with the fact that the Hornets have turned their season around,
01:12the Mavs are not good, certainly had an incredible surge.
01:16You know, Coop put a 50 ball up there.
01:18So, where are you at right now, Coach, on this rookie of the year race
01:24that is still not over?
01:27You know, it's interesting because I thought it was Cooper Flagg the whole time.
01:33And then Knipple, I think Knipple needs to get credit, Kev,
01:36for the absolute renaissance and resurgence of a Charlotte Hornets team
01:41that I thought was going to be better than expected.
01:42But I'll be honest with you, I did not expect this.
01:47But you kind of start to look at, to me, I'm like, okay, well,
01:52how did they look, you know, down the stretch of the season, right?
01:56You know, if you look at the last 15 games, 20.1 points per game for Cooper Flagg,
02:0147% from the floor, looks like 80-some-odd percent from the foul line,
02:06six and a half rebounds, five and a half assists, right?
02:09So, he's had a really good run as of late.
02:16But so has Knipple.
02:17So, I think that is where it's like you're splitting hairs
02:21and you have to make the determination of how much do you take back
02:29in regards to how well Cooper is playing or scoring
02:33based off of who is not there for Dallas.
02:39That's how you have to decide it because you can't go, you know,
02:43apples to apples in regards to, you know, how much they're playing
02:48and so on and so forth.
02:49So, I think the interesting thing for me is I think Cooper Flagg
02:55had a long enough lead in the beginning of the year
02:58that kind of closed it strong, but to me, regardless,
03:04the 51-45 last week kind of was like, all right, shut the door, close,
03:10and that's why the odds have shrunk down to where it is.
03:12But to me, I think rookie of the year is Cooper Flagg.
03:15So, I certainly respect that opinion because I think Cooper's case is
03:21Cooper was clearly the best player coming into the draft.
03:24I think at the end of the rookie season, there isn't a single person
03:29who would tell you that anyone other than Cooper Flagg
03:32is the best player in this class, right?
03:35If we did a redraft, coach, Cooper goes one.
03:38I don't even know if Khan goes two, okay?
03:43However, however, I look through the numbers
03:48and I don't think rookie of the year is,
03:53and not that you said this, but like,
03:55I don't think rookie of the year is a projection award, right?
04:01And Khan has just been better this year.
04:05He just has.
04:07I understand he's not scoring as much.
04:11Khan Knipple just had a rookie season from beyond the arc
04:15that may never be flirted with again.
04:18Khan Knipple has a three made three lead on his teammate in LaMelo Ball
04:25to lead the NBA in made threes in his rookie season.
04:32Khan Knipple, in my opinion, has set himself up to go down
04:36as one of the five greatest shooters in the history of basketball.
04:41I think he has a chance to go down as high as the second best shooter
04:45the league has ever seen.
04:48I think he showed that in one season, Khan Knipple.
04:51So, he's not some scrub, right?
04:56Or, hey, I got hot for a little bit.
04:59Did anybody have Khan Knipple averaging 18 and a half a game
05:02on their bingo card, rookie NBA?
05:05I didn't.
05:06The connective tissue that Khan Knipple has brought to this Charlotte team
05:11has been a huge part of their resurgence.
05:14With Khan Knipple on the floor, the Hornets are better.
05:17The Hornets are better.
05:18The Hornets are better.
05:18The Hornets are better.
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