Cooper Flagg recently sat down with Mallika Andrews of ESPN for a rare interview on national television, where he addressed multiple aspects of his experience in the league so far and what his goals are ahead, including the rookie of the year race.
As a top pick in the draft, everyone expected Cooper Flagg to impact winning instantly. Especially since he was drafted to a team with Kyrie Irving that also had Anthony Davis at the time. But adversity through the season has led him to this point. The Mavericks are currently 23-46 and look set to become a lottery team next year.
During the interview, Flagg addressed how he dealt with this adversity and why Kyrie Irving was the perfect veteran to have this new experience of losing with.
“I was driving home, and he had texted me. He was like, ‘Yo, just give me a call.’ He was like, ‘Listen, I understand. Like, I’ve kind of been through this before. I don’t think there are a lot of people around you right now that can tell you they’ve been through somewhat of a similar thing,'” the Mavericks’ rookie said.
“You know, he was, you know, that top pick and, you know, was kind of thrown into the fire. So he just, you know, stepped in as like a great vet for me and was just there kind of giving me guidance cuz I mean, there were definitely times where I was shaken up. I never lost that much in my life,” Flagg further added.
“But just to hear him say that and tell me that, you know, I’m doing everything I need to be doing, and just to stay with it and stay positive, it definitely helped me out a lot.”
“I’ve definitely learned a lot about losing. I mean, you have to learn how to still take away the positives out of every situation, but when I’m not winning, I’m going to be upset. I’m going to be angry. I always want to win,” concluded Flagg.
Irving, just like Flagg, was a former No. 1 overall pick from Duke who was drafted by the Cavaliers, who were a losing team at the time. Having struggled through the same adversity of not playing on a winning team at the beginning of your career made Irving the perfect veteran to guide Flagg, who was facing a similar situation.
Kyrie Irving was set to return this season after suffering an ACL injury during last year’s playoffs. But after the Mavericks fell out of the race for the postseason, the coaching and medical staff seemingly decided it was best to shut him down for the rest of the season.
In his absence, Cooper Flagg is currently averaging 20.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists while shooting 47.1% from the field. When Kyrie returns, Flagg will have a lot more space to work with, as Irving would draw some defensive pressure that has been focused on him through this season.
It will be interesting to see how Irving’s return next season impacts the performance of Flagg on both ends of the floor. As of now, Irving is a guiding light through adversity from the sidelines and the best helping hand for him to figure out a way to come out of this on top.
