“He’s as real as advertised,” said Chris Paul when discussing what it was like to be in the gym with Cooper Flagg. Being the projected 1st overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, the Duke Blue Devils star is now gaining more attention from the NBA circle than ever before. What people like Chris Paul are seeing is completely leaving them floored, as the young hoops star continues to show his prowess that made him stand out after just one college season. Now, thanks to a former NBA champion, we get to know the amazing rate at which Flagg absorbs knowledge and puts it into his game.
2008 NBA champion and former Golden State Warriors assistant coach Brian Scalabrine was a guest on the recent episode of the Dan Patrick Show. During the conversation, the host asked Scalabrine about a ‘non-white’ player whom he would compare Cooper Flagg with. Without hesitation, Scalabrine named King James himself. Scalabrine believes that Flagg is a “supercomputer”. He elaborated on that, adding, “Everything you tell him within 24 hours, he figured it out. The next time you tell him something else,” Scalabrine was so floored that he revealed, “I was working him out in Maine on day two, I pretty much came to him and his parents and said “Listen I can’t help you anymore you need to reach out….”. Woah!
This ability to act like a “supercomputer” was something Cooper Flagg reportedly developed from an early age. Even before playing his first high school game, as Scalabrine got to learn firsthand. During the interview, he recalled Cooper coming down to play in one of his pickup games in Boston. Flagg’s trainer, whom Scalabrine was well acquainted with, confidently said, “I got a 13-year-old that could play against you Maine kids, and he could hold his own.”
Scalabrine did not choose to believe it until he saw it. But when he saw it, he couldn’t believe it. “He’d kind of take like 15-20 minutes to figure it out, and then he’s like right there, neck and neck with 23-year-olds, 22-year-olds, when he’s 13 years old, right? I saw it for myself. It was the same thing when he came down and played with us”.
Scalabrine trained Flagg and imparted to him all the knowledge he had, but at the end of the day, he had to make a revelation to the star player’s parents. “And over time, I’ve been close to him and worked him out and stuff like that, and they got to a point where I just couldn’t help him anymore. He was just too good. He just picked things up,” said the 2008 NBA champion. “Workouts are supposed to be challenging, and you’re supposed to push guys to do something better than they normally can, and he just kept mastering every single thing.”
May 14, 2025; Chicago, Il, USA; Cooper Flagg talks to the media during the 2025 NBA Draft Combine at Marriott Marquis Chicago. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
Within 5 months of his collegiate career, Flagg had become one of the toughest players to defend. ESPN reporter Myron Medcalf revealed that one cannot completely stop Flagg. He can only be slowed down with the right combination of size and physical play. All thanks to his ability to adapt to different situations and thanks to his high ‘processing’ skills (pun intended), through which he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in 37 games.
Given this prowess, there is no doubt that Cooper Flagg will be the 1st overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. If there were still any doubters out there, then Flagg’s mother was quick to shut them down through her bold prediction.
Cooper Flagg’s mother green-lights the Duke star’s potential acquisition by the Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks have been in the NBA headlines regularly over the past season. It began with the acquisition of Klay Thompson and then spiralled into the biggest news of the season, when they traded away their superstar, Luka Doncic, to the Lakers. And things didn’t end here. In a final twist, the Mavs ended up as the winner of the NBA Draft Lottery by securing the 1st spot in the 2025 NBA Draft. We all know what that means. First bite at the cherry. And in this case, the cherry is none other than Cooper Flagg. Although there have been some murmurs about whether Cooper will actually be the 1st pick or go as 2nd or 3rd pick. But all those murmurs were laid to rest by Flagg’s mother.
A few days ago, a social media user by the name of ‘Gordoncic’ put out a tweet. He looked to start a trend by uploading a video containing compilations of Flagg’s college highlights, and captioning it as “Day one posting a video of Cooper Flagg until he won a title with the Dallas Mavericks”. The tweet ended up getting a like from Kelly Flagg herself. ‘Gordonic’ highlighted this in a separate tweet, writing that “Cooper Flagg’s mom liked my post, I think he really liked the idea of being a Dallas Mavs. Our future is bright with our new generational star.”
Cooper Flagg’s mom liked my post, I think he really liked the idea of being a Dallas Mavs.
Our future is bright with our new generational star. pic.twitter.com/5x1XTyEjZI
— Gordoncic (@lukagordoncic) June 17, 2025
This happened amid concerns that Flagg might not be a good fit within the Mavs squad. The Athletic insider Zach Harper, in his recent report, said that Flagg will fit in right away on defense, thanks to his ability to defend multiple positions. At the same time, he also thought that Flagg is “going to be in a logjam with the rest of the Mavs’ frontcourt. Dereck Lively II, Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington, and Flagg? Not to mention Naji Marshall, whose best position is small forward. That’s a great frontcourt, but you’re asking Flagg to play out of position for now.”
Well, as Brian Scalabrine so clearly highlighted, Flagg can adapt quickly to changing circumstances. Sure, his ‘processing’ power might take some time to get up to speed against the top basketball players in the world. However, it is a challenge that Flagg would be willing to take. A challenge that even his mother believes will not prove too difficult for him.
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