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Before anyone jumps to any type of conclusion, this email is in no way meant to be racially charged or racially insensitive.
We are just sharing a fact we found extremely interesting, and perhaps you will too.
For the first time in the history of NBA Awards odds (going back to the 1999-00 season when awards odds were first widely offered), two American white players are the favorites to win Rookie of the Year.
Not only are the two favorites U.S.-born American citizens, they also came from the same college (Duke).
Those guys are obviously Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel.
The only time the first- and second-place ROY finishers came from the same school was the 2004-05 season when Emeka Okafor bested his former UConn teammate, Ben Gordon.
But never in the history of the Rookie of the Year award have two white Americans finished first and second, and never have they even been the top two favorites at any point in a season.
That changed on November 15 when Knueppel shifted to second on the odds board at +250. On that date, the odds order was: Flagg -120, Knueppel +250, VJ Edgecombe +300.
Since then, Flagg and Knueppel have been the favorites. And for a short time from Nov. 24-Dec. 1, when Flagg was struggling and Knueppel was going off, the latter shifted to a small favorite.
Mike Miller was the last white American player to win the NBA ROY award (2000-01 season). Prior to Miller, Larry Bird was the last white guy to take home the honor, which happened following the 1979-80 season.
Who says white men can’t jump?
Here are the latest NBA Rookie of the Year odds, courtesy of BetOnline.ag:
2025-26 NBA ROY Odds
Cooper Flagg -1200
Kon Knueppel +900
VJ Edgecombe +2500
Derik Queen +4500
- BetOnline Press
