LAS VEGAS — All Cooper Flagg had to do was prove he belonged on the court with the NBA’s best, and he accomplished that feat on the first day of scrimmages against the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team and Select Teams.
But Flagg made an impact in a scrimmage on Day 2, showing that next season could be a competitive one for the league’s bottom-ranked franchise vying for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
In one segment that the media was allowed to watch during the final 10 minutes of the scrimmage, Flagg, who is listed as 6-foot-8 and weighs just over 200 pounds, stole the show as the Select Team upset a field of NBA stars.
First, he calmly completed a wing triple pass over the outstretched arms of Lakers star Anthony Davis, then, as Davis broke free, Flagg intercepted a long pass and returned down the court.
After missing the shot, he dove for a tip-and-foul on Miami’s Bam Adebayo. It wasn’t officially recorded, but with coaches and front-office personnel filling the stands, it was a glimpse into what Duke could have in store later in the fall, and what the NBA could expect.
When Davis blocked a shot by Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski in the final seconds of the game to give the Olympic team a one-point victory, the crowd was buzzing, not about the result, but about the flag as they watched the entire game.
Olympic coach Steve Kerr wasn’t allowed to speak specifically about Flagg due to draft rules, but he praised the performance of his entire team. There was some concern about Flagg coming into the team and whether he would be able to keep up with the intensity of the game, but he answered the question emphatically.
“I’m confident in my abilities and my skills,” Flagg said after the game, “so at the end of the day, I’m confident in who I am and what I can do.”
Flagg won’t turn 18 until late December, so he wasn’t expected to dominate the day, and no one would have said he was the best player on the court. Ultimately, it’s fair to say that all 12 members of the Olympic team will be in the Hall of Fame.
But there will be some expectations placed on him, and he will know it: It’s one thing to come into this year with a Duke pedigree, but there will also be some confidence that he could be the next American-born star to emerge from a pipeline that’s filling up with foreign players.
But through the first two days of camp, he was just playing ball — and playing well.
“There is pressure. I wouldn’t say pressure, but it feels surreal to be on the court together and to be here and be given this opportunity,” Flagg said. “So I knew I was going to be able to go out here and compete so I wasn’t worried. I didn’t put any pressure on myself, I’m just here for a reason. I’m confident and I was just playing.”
The selection team will be a worthwhile tune-up for the Olympic team, which plays an exhibition game against Canada in Las Vegas on Wednesday night. It’s a kind of crash course for the U.S. team. There’s certainly a talented squad, but the opponents have been practicing and playing together for some time. But Flagg doesn’t seem to think that will be an issue for the U.S. team.
“They can be any team. They don’t have any weaknesses. They don’t have any holes,” Flagg said. “They can be dominant on any play. They just become a dominant team that imposes their will on everybody.”
But for now, at least for minutes, Flagg has positioned himself as one of the best players in the sport, and he could carry that momentum into college at Duke and beyond, and maybe even an Olympic Games for the U.S.
While the Select Team is typically made up of young players on rookie contracts rather than the NBA’s next tier of stars, there have been a number of players who have moved from the Select Team to the Olympic Team over the four-year cycle.
“As you get better and better and you prove something, it just builds your confidence,” Flagg said. “You see success and you challenge yourself with what you know you can do. You know you can do it. That just builds your confidence.”
