Culture Corner

Back in 2021, a small newspaper outlet in Maine, wrote a piece on a basketball prospect, claiming they have ‘never seen nothing like this’. Fast forward 4 years, and that same prospect goes number 1 in the 2025 NBA draft. We’re talking, of course, about Cooper Flagg – the 6’9″, 205lbs (93 kg) small forward, recently picked by the Dallas Mavericks. This post isn’t going to delve into how lucking into that draft pick saved not only Nico Harrison’s career, but the Mavericks franchise as a whole, no, this will be all about the next coldest white boy.

The term ‘generational prospect’ gets thrown around a lot these days. Since the year 2000, there have been 12 players labeled ‘generational’^*; from the likes of LeBron James and Victor Wembanyama, all the way to Andrew Wiggins and Zion Williamson. Out of these 12 ‘generational’ players, how many have truly been generational, do you think? One. My GOAT, LeBron James, who seems to have transcended the sport of basketball and etched his name into the history books as the greatest basketball player of all time. Arguably, Victor Wembanyama may be on his way there, having already shown us his insane talent and potentially living up to the hype. So why are we so quick to label talents as generational? It seems nowadays that you could be a great player in a mediocre draft class and you earn this label. But with Cooper…it’s different.

In only one year at college playing for Duke University, being the youngest player in college hoops at the time, posted an impressive 19.2 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 4.2 APG, on an impressive 48.1% FG%, shooting 38.5% from 3. This impressive stat line earned Flagg the Men’s College Player of the Year Award, as well as being named first team All-American, and a handful of other awards. Can I reiterate that this kid was 17. He was playing against grown men and was still dominating. Unfortunately, Duke didn’t go on to win the NCAA championship and were knocked out in the semi-finals after a tough loss to Houston, with a final score of 67-70. Flagg scored 27 points in this game, but after an 11-1 run by Houston in the final 1 minute and 14 seconds, they stole the win from Duke. Cooper felt after this that his time at college was complete and he declared for the 2025 NBA draft.

Flagg has already proven to us that he can play with the best. When I say the best, I mean the best. During the USA Men’s Basketball team’s lead-up to the olympics, where a win was crucial to prove that the best basketball talent comes out of the place it was born, Cooper Flagg was involved in an “open run” style scrimmage with team USA. This team was stacked with the best players from our generation of basketball – we’re talking about LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant, just to name a few. Cooper was thrown against veterans, straight dogs, who have nothing left to prove in terms of their basketball ability, and yet…he didn’t struggle one bit. Bare in mind that this was a 17-year-old kid who went to college early, playing with and against the best talent in the NBA, yet he was named the best player on the USA select team by his peers. On that team were players such as Amen Thompson, Jalen Suggs, Payton Pritchard, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. – serious young, up and coming NBA talents, and he was already arguably the best player on that team without playing a single NBA game yet. Insane. Generational, perhaps?

So what makes Cooper so great, and why do some have doubts? From NBADraft.net, I have gathered his supposed strengths and weaknesses to discuss. Firstly, Flagg has a 7’1″ wingspan, giving him the length to really fit in as a forward, whether that is slashing at the rim, or blocking on the other end. Being 205lbs (although some suspect he weighs more), he really has the strength to go at defenders and be physical. He’s a great mover, laterally and running the floor, meaning that he can really attack the basket as well as holding his own when defending. Great post control, shot selection, and for a guy as tall and as long as he is, has a great shot. The only big thing that seems to bring Cooper down is his ball handling, where he can often lose the ball when pressured. Other than that, the rest of his weaknesses are nitpicks about positional fits. Flagg has been compared to the likes of Scottie Pippen and Jayson Tatum, two great players who have both one at least one championship – could Cooper go on to do the same?

Only time will tell whether Cooper Flagg really is what he’s made out to be. Of course, some have their doubts, but when it really comes down to it, he’s already proved that he can hang with the best prior to the leap that he will take once he begins training at an NBA level. I am super excited to see what this kid has in store for us.

^* LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Greg Oden, Blake Griffin, Anthony Davis, Andrew Wiggins, Ben Simmons, Deandre Ayton, Zion Williamson, Cade Cunningham, Victor Wembanyama, Cooper Flagg