Cooper Flagg has already wowed Team USA and been hyped as the United States’ best basketball prospect since LeBron James.
Not bad for a kid from Maine who grew up criss-crossing one of America’s most remote states just to prove that he was a legitimate basketball player.
“When I was younger, it felt like people would just shoot me down,” Flagg told DraftExpress.
“I felt like being just a kid from Maine, people were just kind of underestimating me and telling me that it wasn’t possible.”
As the 2024/25 men’s college basketball season begins, Flagg is already the flashiest name in the sport as a 6ft 9in and 205lb guard/freshman.
Duke’s biggest recruit in years is a reminder that the Blue Devils used to be an annual NCAA Tournament powerhouse.
Flagg is viewed as a lock to be the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NBA Draft and will follow San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama on The Association’s hype list.
But Flagg wasn’t The Chosen One or a 7ft 4in ‘alien’ from France.
He was discovered in the third grade.
He grew up traveling hours in Maine just to attend a basketball practice.
And with the closest NBA team more than 200 miles away, Flagg first connected with pro basketball in the back of a mini-van.
“We’re huge Celtics fans,” Kelly Flagg, Cooper’s mom, told NESN.
Flagg impressed in his Duke debut with a blowout victory of Maine[/caption]
The hype train has been building for Flagg since high school[/caption]
He’s also become familiar with the spotlight[/caption]
“We used to watch film on the Celtics with the older guys – (Larry) Bird, (Kevin) McHale, (Robert) Parish, (Danny) Ainge.
“We bought the kids the 1985-86 Celtics DVD set. That was Cooper’s Christmas present when he was eight.
“When we traveled to AAU events down here in Massachusetts, it would play in our van.”
Almost a decade later, Flagg is still inspired by Larry Legend, who rivaled Magic Johnson as the NBA’s best player in the 1980s and set the stage for Michael Jordan.
“I watched a lot of movies and stuff on him (Bird), and old championship games,” Flagg said.
Bird, the Hick from French Lick, won three NBA championships and made 12 All-Star teams with Boston.
While Flagg shares a similar background to one of the best players in Celtics history, a connection to a current Boston world champion provided a path to Duke and beyond.
“The first (NBA) draft that I really looked back to and have a vivid memory of watching was probably (Jayson) Tatum’s (2017) draft,” Flagg said.
“I remember where I was watching it, at my old house in Maine with my family on the couch.
Flagg went head to head with LeBron James for Team USA practice before the Olympics[/caption]
The Duke freshman was throwing down big dunks in high school[/caption]
“I had the feeling for the first time of watching that draft, where I can start to see a road map of, ‘This is where I want to get some day.’ “
“That’s when the dream became bigger for me.”
Flagg scored 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting in his Duke debut, grabbing seven rebounds while adding five assists and three steals in a 96-62 home blowout of Maine.
After first drawing attention in a sixth-grade game — throwing a pass as a third-grader that displayed talent beyond his years — Flagg is expected to become the next one-and-done star to go No.1 to the NBA.
He stole the show in Las Vegas this summer while some of the best basketball players in the world prepared for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Video footage from a scrimmage showed Flagg playing with supreme confidence as he shook off defenders, unleashed powerful dunks and drilled long-range shots.
“He gonna be a problem for sure when he enters the league,” one fan tweeted.
“This kid is going to be special,” a second fan posted. “Him and Wemby are going to run the league.”
Despite only being a month removed from high school graduation, Flagg looked NBA ready with Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant watching up close.
“He wants to be great,” Devin Booker said.
“Bad a**, cold a**,” Kevin Garnett added.
The 17-year-old Flagg has already evolved from a third-grader beating sixth-graders into a Bird admirer and Tatum follower.
The kid from Maine who grew up watching Celtics highlights in a mini-van is closer than ever to making his own name in the NBA.
