NBA Draft: Cooper Flagg's relentless work ethic, competitive spirit could make him the next big thing

DALLAS — Cooper Flagg runs from baseline to baseline inside a small gym, catching a basketball and finishing with a one-handed dunk while alternating hands. It's a drill few could execute, let alone a middle schooler in a small Maine town. No spectators are there to witness these early stages of his development besides Flagg's trainer, Matt MacKenzie, and his twin brother, Ace. No national notoriety. No scouts eyeing his every move. And no fans chanting for Flagg to play one more year at Duke. He's just a preteen without the burden of expectation, engaged in constant repetition. Flagg's desire to improve as a basketball player laid the foundation for his evolution into one of the most talented NBA prospects of the decade. Living life in obscurity is no longer the case for that lanky kid from Newport who'll likely cement himself as the No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 draft when the Mavericks are on the clock Wednesday night. Those who know Flagg best say he'll be successful in the NBA because of his deep passion for the game and elite processing skills. Those who've evaluated him say he's a generational talent, a 6-foot-8 forward who isn't limited to playing one position. Those who've coached against him rave about his defensive versatility, complementing his length and size. "He'll dominate 10 different ways in one game and 10 different ways in 10 different games," said former NBA player Brian Scalabrine, who introduced Flagg to Duke coach Jon Scheyer. Someday, a player is going to succeed LeBron James and Stephen Curry as the future face of the league. Flagg has a strong case. Being a prodigy is tough to handle, but Flagg is off to a good start, an NBA executive from an Eastern Conference team told The Dallas Morning News, citing James and another No. 1 pick, Victor Wembanyama, as potential models for the former Duke freshman. A two-way 'supercomputer' Flagg, whose basketball journey began in the quiet town of Newport, is set to be the first player drafted from Maine (and fourth overall) since Jeff Turner in 1984. He was born into a hoops family. His parents, Kelly and Ralph Flagg, played college basketball. Ace will play this fall at the University of Maine, where their older brother, Hunter, is working toward a degree in sports management. Kelly reached out to MacKenzie when her twins were 12 because she was looking for someone to push them and develop their unique skill sets. MacKenzie, who played college basketball at Husson University in Bangor, Maine, from 2006-10, knew he wasn't working with the average preteen during their first session because of how quickly he processed concepts. "You only had to tell him something once and he was immediately starting to apply it into drill work," MacKenzie recently told The News, "and then I would watch his games and he would immediately start to try to apply it into his game. So there was just an incredibly steep learning curve. He was able to pick up on things quickly. It was very natural to him." Flagg's basketball IQ and his ability to make quick decisions are why Scalabrine labeled him a "supercomputer." Flagg played against high schoolers as a preteen, developing a relentless work ethic. The skills he executes in games are the same moves he repeated during the countless hours he spent with his trainers as they refined his handle, sharpened his jump shot and studied tape. Ahead of Flagg's freshman year at Nokomis High School, MacKenzie called Scalabrine, who won a championship in 2008 with the Boston Celtics. He brought in college players to play against Flagg once he reached high school, a contributing factor to his decision to reclassify from the class of 2025 to 2024. Flagg has said he embraced sacrificing a year of high school to make an immediate impact at the college level. Holding his own as a 17-year-old against several members of Team USA ahead of last year's Olympics seemed to validate the decision. It also honed his fierce competitive instincts. "It's not just necessarily on the basketball court," MacKenzie said. "If you go out and play golf with him, if you go and play a yard game like cornhole with him or pingpong, he just wants to win. That's his DNA." Asked to provide an example of a time when he saw Flagg benefit from their work together, MacKenzie points to his improved 3-point percentages midway through his freshman year at Duke. MacKenzie, co-founder of RESULTS Basketball, traveled from Maine to Durham, North Carolina, when Flagg was on Christmas break because he noticed inconsistencies in his shooting percentages. Flagg shot 11-of-44 from beyond the arc in 12 games before Christmas. There wasn't anything wrong with Flagg's mechanics, MacKenzie said, especially since they adjusted his shot pocket the previous summer. "He was dropping his hands and he wasn't landing with balance," MacKenzie said. "I showed him on film some examples of when he did it well versus when he didn't do it well. We repped it out. We got three good days of work and when he came back, you could see even in pregame, he was really intentional about coming back down on two feet after every shot." The night MacKenzie left, Flagg went back to the Krzyzewski Center and put up 750 shots using the suggested adjustments, building the muscle memory needed so he could apply it during games. After his workout, he sent MacKenzie a text message with a photo of himself inside the practice facility: "I'm really going to lock in on this, Matt. Thank you for coming down. I appreciate it," the text read. The results were apparent. Flagg connected on 32 of 70 shots from deep in the final 19 games of the regular season and finished with a 3-point percentage of 38.5. Flagg has said he "wouldn't be the player I am" without MacKenzie, according to a quote on the trainer's website. Offensively, Flagg is the entire package. He can handle the ball and has vision similar to that of a lead guard, allowing him to make plays for himself and teammates. He has a pull-up jumper that improved dramatically throughout his lone season at Duke. He can create in isolation, initiate and finish in transition, and work out of the post. On nights when the Blue Devils needed a scorer, he delivered. He scored a career-high 42 points Jan. 11 against Notre Dame. When they needed a playmaker, he accepted that role, finishing with six or more assists 13 times. Once, when Flagg was 15, Scalabrine found a rim-running center to test his ability to operate the pick-and-roll and make accurate reads. The goal was for Flagg to throw a bounce or lob pass to the big man during a 5-on-5 scrimmage while Scalabrine, who played 11 seasons in the NBA, was in drop coverage. "It took Cooper like seven minutes to dominate this coverage," Scalabrine told The News. "I remind you, he's never been in that scenario before and he's mastered it in six or seven minutes. … I've been around young players. It takes them years and reps upon reps to pick this stuff up, and I think that's his greatest attribute." Flagg's upside on defense makes him an elite two-way force, especially in an era of basketball when players have specialized skills. Under Scheyer's leadership, Flagg was the team's defensive quarterback. He communicated switches, blew up pick-and-rolls and guarded all five positions. The Eastern Conference executive compared Flagg to Scottie Pippen when it comes to creating space on defense, praising his abilities to switch one through five, play across positions and blow up teams' plays. Flagg averaged 18.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.4 blocks and 1.6 steals last season, earning All-American and Player of the Year honors while leading Duke to 35 wins and a Final Four appearance. It was impressive to watch from afar, the executive told The News, especially considering he was on one of the best college teams in the country when he should have been in high school. 'That's just not who I am' Flagg experienced several pivotal moments during his brief college career but also experienced adversity, most notably twice during the postseason. He was spotted in a wheelchair after suffering an ankle injury against Georgia Tech that kept him sidelined for most of Duke's ACC tournament championship run. Scheyer said Flagg wanted to play through the injury, but Duke's medical staff cautioned against it until he was 100 percent healthy. He returned to action for the Blue Devils' NCAA tournament opener against Mount Saint Mary's and played through their Final Four loss to Houston. Flagg could have ended his college career the moment he suffered the injury to protect his body, knowing he was the consensus No. 1 draft pick. Instead, he chose to finish the season with his teammates. It showed how much Flagg loves the game, an ACC coach who opposed him told The News, because most players wouldn't have returned. For all his passion and competitiveness, Flagg doesn't obsess over past mistakes — like the game-winning shot he missed against Houston in the national semifinal. He told Sports Illustrated he hasn't watched the end of the game. "That's just not who I am," Flagg said. "I'm not going to beat myself up over whether I could have taken one more dribble or whether I could have done something different." The next chapter Flagg is about to embark on a journey only those who came before him can understand. Instead of harping on the past, he's on the cusp of realizing a long-awaited dream: playing in the NBA. He's coming off his lone pre-draft visit with the Mavericks, which included a private dinner at Bob's Chop and Steak House, a standard workout and meetings with team officials. The No. 1 pick bears the weight of expectations to improve a franchise's fortunes almost overnight. See Wembanyama, Paolo Banchero, Cade Cunningham and Anthony Edwards. Even Mavericks stars Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis were tasked with reviving Cleveland and New Orleans, who drafted them No. 1 in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Unlike most teams that wind up with the No. 1 pick, the Mavericks are built to contend, as long as the roster is healthy. Flagg can rely on the two former No. 1s and plenty of veterans, a unique position for a rookie star. But Dallas will be without a primary playmaker for a significant chunk of the season while Irving recovers from ACL surgery. Could Flagg, who's played forward for most of his young career, be an option at point guard for Mavericks coach Jason Kidd? "When they pulled the (No. 1) envelope out and it said the Dallas Mavericks, my mind said, 'Jason Kidd is going to play him at the point,'" Scalabrine said. Scalabrine, who played four seasons with Kidd in New Jersey, made the assumption based on the former Milwaukee coach's history with Giannis Antetokounmpo. Kidd was one of the first NBA coaches to use the two-time MVP forward at point guard, which further unlocked his full potential. "It would not surprise me, especially with Kyrie Irving out, if he dabbles with Cooper at the point," Scalabrine said. "And I'm not saying point forward, like Draymond Green. I'm saying point guard, like get us into our offense and set us up. "The long-term development of that is why I think it's a great fit. ... If I'm giving that position to anybody, I'm giving it to the guy who can figure things out." If all goes according to plan, Flagg will be on a flight to Dallas before the end of the week. But until commissioner Adam Silver announces the Mavericks' pick, Flagg is focused on the present. "I think the biggest thing is … not trying to think too far into the future," Flagg told SI. "Not worrying about what's coming down the road, but just focusing on right here, right now, on what I can control and just getting the most out of every single day."