DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks held an NBA Draft Party on Wednesday night. Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers was in attendance and spoke at the event, admitting she gave expected No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg “crap” for attending Duke instead of UConn (Bueckers played her college baseball at UConn). On Friday, Flagg — after getting selected first overall as expected — received his opportunity to respond to Bueckers.

“She’s (Bueckers) great. Obviously I went on a visit to UConn,” Flagg said during his introductory press conference on Friday. “I was able to meet her on my visit, talk a little bit. She's a great person. She’s had an incredible career so far. I think it’s funny, that’s just how that back and forth college stuff goes. I think it’s funny. She's a great player, she's had a great career and she's a great person.”

The city of Dallas received two future stars this year thanks to the draft lottery in both the NBA and WNBA. First, the Wings won the 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery and ultimately selected Paige Bueckers first overall. The Mavericks later won the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery and made Cooper Flagg the No. 1 overall pick.

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It's extremely rare for a city to get the first overall pick in different sports. It is even more rare for it to happen within the same sport between the men's and women's teams. That is exactly what occurred in 2025, though.

The Mavericks expect big things from Flagg. The same can be said for the Wings' thoughts about Bueckers. Both players are not letting the pressure and expectations dominate their approach, though. Rather, Flagg and Bueckers are focused on what they can control.

Paige Bueckers and the Wings will play the Indiana Fever in Dallas at the American Airlines Center on Friday night. Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks will begin NBA Summer League on July 10 against the Los Angeles Lakers in Las Vegas.