Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has coached against legends and guided Team USA through championship runs. Yet when he recalls facing Cooper Flagg during a scrimmage in Las Vegas last summer, his words reflect awe rather than routine analysis.
“I just remember the force you felt,” Kerr told ESPN. “You immediately felt him. It was as a basketball player; it wasn’t just like he had a huge dunk. It was the passing, the cutting, the left-handed jump hook when the offense had nothing else; it was so consistent.”
Kerr’s remarks, laced with Star Wars imagery, underscore what many around the league have seen in the Dallas Mavericks’ top overall pick. Flagg’s poise, precision, and presence have made him look more like a seasoned Jedi than an 18-year-old entering his first NBA season.
That calm confidence first appeared in the summer of 2024. That's when Flagg, then only 17, joined the USA Basketball Select Team to scrimmage against the Olympic roster. It had been more than a decade since an amateur received such an invitation. But Flagg looked anything but intimidated.
“Zero nerves,” Mavericks star Anthony Davis said. “He went out and balled.”
The force is with Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg
Flagg shone in that session, scoring over multiple All-Defensive players. That group included Davis, Jrue Holiday, and Bam Adebayo. His sequence of plays. He hit a baseline fadeaway, a pull-up three, and a putback and-one that left Team USA veterans exchanging looks of disbelief.
Even before he set foot on Duke’s campus, Flagg’s readiness for elite competition was obvious. His lone season in Durham only confirmed it as he swept national player of the year honors while leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four.
Dallas, which improbably won the 2025 draft lottery, wasted no time taking Flagg first overall. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd immediately began testing the rookie’s versatility, using him as a point-forward throughout training camp and preseason play.
“He has a talent about winning,” Kidd said. “It’s in his DNA, so it would be unfair not to make him uncomfortable.”
Flagg has shown flashes of brilliance in exhibition games, displaying the same blend of size, instinct, and court vision that once caught Kerr’s attention. For a franchise searching for its next young cornerstone alongside Luka Dončić, the Mavericks may have found one capable of mastering both sides of the floor.
Kerr’s Jedi comparison might not be far off. If Flagg continues to harness the same composure and command that stunned Team USA, Dallas could soon have a new force leading its galaxy.
