The Dallas Mavericks lost their 7th consecutive game against the Phoenix Suns on Feb 11. However, the 111-120 loss took the backseat as Cooper Flagg stole the spotlight. Wednesday ended in a nightmare as the rookie walked off the floor with a left mid-foot sprain. Flagg underwent an MRI, which confirmed the injury. Now this setback comes with serious repercussions in the 19-year-old’s first year in the NBA.

Injury expert Jeff Stotts explained Flagg’s situation.

The rookie’s foot issue carries uncertain recovery timelines because this type of tissue damage can affect several structures, including the intricate Lisfranc region. Therefore, return dates often vary widely.

Historically, players dealing with similar vague central foot setbacks miss about 8.5 games, which equals roughly 20.2 days, highlighting how unpredictable healing and rehabilitation can be for elite basketball athletes overall. What does this mean for Cooper Flagg?

The 2025 No. 1 draft pick will miss the 2026 NBA All-Star weekend. Most importantly, the injury will keep him away from participating in Friday’s Rising Stars tournament.

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Team Melo’s brightest star will now sit on the sidelines, cheering for his team.

Meanwhile, the NBA has already announced Flagg’s replacement in the Rising Stars.

The Utah Jazz rookie, Ace Bailey, will fill in for Cooper Flagg.

Speaking of the Dallas Mavericks’ star, he has been simply phenomenal in the last six games. He logged about 35.8 minutes while pouring in 32.0 points per outing. Moreover, he converted roughly 12.0 of 22.8 overall attempts, added 1.7 of 3.7 long-range shots, and sank 6.3 of 7.5 foul-line tries.

Meanwhile, Flagg supplied 7.7 boards, 4.0 dimes, 0.5 takeaways, 1.2 rejections, and 2.2 giveaways. He delivered 49, 34, 36, and 32 points, becoming the first rookie since Michael Jordan to produce four consecutive performances of 30 points alongside five rebounds.

Unfortunately, his heroics for the Dallas Mavericks will halt for a while now. And that could also be a warning alarm for the Rookie of the Year title.

Will Cooper Flagg miss out on becoming the ROTY?

Cooper Flagg had missed only 3 games so far in this season. But after his foot sprain, the rookie might miss at least 8-9 games, according to Jeff Stotts.

This simply means that the pause button on his season would be an advantage for the Charlotte Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel. The Duke graduate is averaging 18.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, and 3.6 apg. He is the second-favorite candidate for the ROTY title.

Meanwhile, Flagg is averaging 20.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and 4.1 apg. But Flagg is most unlikely to lose the title.

The NBA’s 65-game mandate, per the 2023 CBA, is going to safeguard the Duke prodigy from falling under the guillotine. But most importantly, voters consider overall impact, stats per game, and team context rather than a hard games-played cutoff.

While fans might fear that Cooper’s injury is a major setback for the race to ROTY, it’s actually not. He just has to come back, fully recovered, and play for the Mavericks with the same impact.