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Cooper Flagg has more All-Star votes than Devin Booker and Jimmy Butler: "I feel blessed"
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- Cooper Flagg has more All-Star votes than Devin Booker and Jimmy Butler: "I feel blessed"
Cooper Flagg continues to build on his really good rookie campaign with the Dallas Mavericks . The hype he received was justified, with the young forward getting All-Star considerations from NBA fans.
In the latest returns of NBA All-Star voting of fans, Flagg landed in the top 20 vote-getters for the Western Conference and was the lone rookie included.
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Coop has garnered 236,182 votes as of the second fan returns, good for 16th spot. His votes were more than those of Devin Booker (232,075) of the Phoenix Suns , Lauri Markkanen (221,110) of the Utah Jazz and Jimmy Butler III (208,900) of the Golden State Warriors .
Speaking to the media ahead of their game against the Utah Jazz on Thursday, Coop expressed his surprise and gratitude for the recognition he has gotten and vowed to use it as further motivation to continue to improve.
"Yeah, I feel blessed. Obviously, to see that it's really cool. And I feel honored and really blessed just seeing my name up there. Definitely surprised, but, like I said, it's really a blessing and an honor, so I'll just keep trying to get better every day," the 2025 top overall NBA rookie pick said .
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Flagg is steadily improving
The All-Star consideration from fans speaks volumes about the gains he has been making in his development in the NBA. While he had a slow start to his rookie campaign as he looked for his initial footing in the NBA and the Mavericks experimented with how to better use him, including making him play point guard, he is now playing more with confidence.
His numbers have significantly improved to 19.1 points, 6.6 rebounds. 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 35 minutes of play. He is second in scoring among rookies, second in rebounds, first in assists, second in steals and second in minutes played.
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Coop has been thrust into a more leadership role in his first year as the Mavericks continue to deal with the absence of key personnel, including Kyrie Irving , who is still recovering from a knee injury and at times Anthony Davis . But he has shown the maturity to pick up the challenge and deliver.
In their game against the Jazz on Thursday, for instance, he posted a near triple-double of 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists on 10-of-18 shooting and 3-of-6 from three. Unfortunately, they narrowly lost, 116-114, to drop to 14-24 for the season.
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All-Star interest
While he is not too high on his chances of making it to the main All-Star Game in his first year, Coop admitted the festivities piqued his interest and that he had a conversation about them with 10-time All-Star teammate Davis.
"Yeah, I just talked to him about it. Asked him what that's like and with the voting and everything. We just talked a little bit. Nothing crazy, but you said it, 10-time All-Star, so he has so much experience of all this stuff," the rookie said.
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For Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, Coop's chances of making it to the All-Star Game are not too far-fetched, as the player would like to think.
"If he participates in the Big Game, that's because of the work he's put in. We hope that he does make the Big Game and he gets voted in. He's playing at a high level for a young player. He's taking on the best defender. He's trying to help his team win. He's been very successful in late game," J-Kidd shared .
Coop being an All-Star as a rookie is still to be determined, but what is certain is that he is developing quite well as a player and he's going to be part of the midseason classic for years to come.
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Related: Jason Kidd's honest take on Cooper Flagg making the 2026 All-Star Game
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jan 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
