CAPTURE THE FLAGG

That was the goal of every NBA team, and with good reason.

The former Duke star and presumptive has an uncanny skill set that combine athleticism, hoops IQ and a preternatural calm

TOP DRAFT PICK

JULY 2025 • SI .COM • 25

photograph by CLAY PATRICK MCBRIDE

txt by CHRIS MANNIX

In April, minutes after Duke’s collapse in the NCAA semifinal against Houston, a contingent of Blue Devils motored down a back hall of the Alamodome on a golf cart. Coach Jon Scheyer, flanked by freshman wing Kon Knueppel, was stuffed in the middle row. As the cart hummed down the quiet hallway, Cooper Flagg appeared on the back, still in his sweat-soaked uniform, staring vacantly in the direction he came. The images, captured by dozens of camera phones, quickly went viral. Flagg can’t recall what he was thinking in that moment. Just that, whatever it was, he didn’t want anyone to know it. “It was an incredible season,” Flagg later told reporters. “Didn’t end the way we wanted to.”

Weeks later Flagg still struggles to explain why. Up six points with 35 seconds left, Duke appeared to have a spot in the national title game locked up. Then a Houston three-pointer sliced the lead in half. A blown inbounds pass led to a dunk that cut it to one. On the next possession, Flagg was whistled for going over the back after the Blue Devils’ Tyrese Proctor missed the front end of a one-and-one. Two free throws at the other end gave the Cougars a one-point lead. With 15 seconds left, Duke put the ball in the hands of Flagg. He drove baseline, spun to the middle, pulled up from nine feet … and missed off the front of the rim. No shot at a national title. No regrets, it should be noted, either. “There’s certain things that I replay from that game,” says Scheyer. “That’s not one of them. You trust the ball in Cooper’s hands.”

Flagg proved to be a solid defender, and at just 6' 8" he was tied for third in the ACC with 50 blocked shots.

With good reason. Flagg’s freshman season was an unqualified success. He averaged 19.2 points per game on 48.1% shooting, including 38.5% from three. He was a first-team All-American and the Naismith National Player of the Year. There were standout moments. A 42-point outburst against Notre Dame. A 20-point, 12-rebound effort against Louisville, one of his seven double-doubles. Against Houston, Flagg finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and four assists. And the shot? “Got to a solid spot,” shrugs Flagg. That’s about as deep as he’s willing go. He says he has not rewatched the ending: “That’s just not who I am.” Nor has he tortured himself by what if-ing the final possession of his college career. “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,” says Flagg. “It was a tough shot, but I don’t think you’re going to get an easy shot in that opportunity. If you look at any game-winner at any level, I don’t think there’s a lot of wide-open was coaching youth basketball in southern Maine when he began hearing stories about a long-limbed third-grader up north dominating boys several years ahead of him. When he watched him play, Bedard was stunned by what he saw. Not in the game. In the layup line. “Some kids that age, they can’t walk and chew gum,” says Bedard. “Cooper’s doing left-handed flip layups, 45-degree angles. He was so coordinated.” When play started, Bedard was struck by Flagg’s feel for the game. “The way that he was passing the ball to bad players with extra backspin, nice and soft so they could finish,” says Bedard. “And if a teammate missed, he’d grab the rebound and let them shoot it again. He could dominate. He did dominate. But he played the right way.”

Cooper dominated in his home state with his brothers, Ace (below, left) and Hunter (right, next to Kelly), before shining against pros like James. [ones]. You get to a spot, you raise up, and you trust the work that you put in over time. I’m just going to live with what I trusted.”

What did trouble Flagg, those who know him say, was the belief that he let his teammates down. “He takes responsibility for probably too much at times,” says Matt MacKenzie, Flagg’s longtime trainer.

“He was in rough shape for a couple of days.”

MacKenzie played college ball at Husson, a Division III school in Bangor, Maine. After graduating, he got into coaching, eventually focusing on player development. Around 2019, his phone rang. It was Kelly Flagg. She had a pair of 12-year-old twin boys, Cooper and Ace.

And she wanted MacKenzie to work with them. Cooper’s legend had already been established. Andy Bedard

By the time Kelly called him, MacKenzie had already heard whispers about the supersized elementary schoolers tearing up the New England basketball circuit. Ace was solid, built like his brother, with a more conventional big man game. Cooper, though, was different. The physical tools were impressive. But it was his mind that stood out. Show Cooper something once, says MacKenzie, “and you didn’t have to show him again.”

MacKenzie ran him through drills with older kids.

Situational stuff. Short shot clock. Pick-and-rolls requiring a quick decision. “His ability to process was

oftentimes better than those guys,” says MacKenzie.

“And they were playing college basketball.” He was like Will Hunting, with hops. That Duke put the ball in Flagg’s hands in the closing seconds against Houston wasn’t surprising, says MacKenzie. “Cooper,” he says, “is built for those moments.”

Which made coming up short excruciating. Flagg even wondered: Should I try again? Duke was widely viewed as a one-year pit stop on his road to the NBA, where teams pursued him by losing as many games as possible to maximize draft lottery odds, giving birth to the tagline “Capture the Flagg.”

Yet when it came time to make a decision, Flagg felt conflicted. “Was it obvious?” he asks, repeating a question. “Yes and no. If somebody could tell me that Flagg, not surprisingly, shrugs off his against NBA stars: “Just basketball.”

I could have that group of people for another year and go back and have the exact same team, I would a hundred percent do it. But it’s just not reality and you can’t pass up on the opportunity. You just have to do what’s best for you and move on.”

To Dallas, most likely. On lottery night the Mavs—with a 1.8% chance of securing the top overall pick— saw their four-ball combination come up. A team that for months was maligned for offloading one franchise player (Luka Donˇci´c) will get a chance to draft another, a 6'8", 221-pound wing with limitless potential. The question is: Just how good can Cooper Flagg be?

FROM LEFT: COURTESY OF THE FLAGG FAMILY;

BRIAN BABINEAU / NBA  E / GETTY IMAGES COOPER FLAGG