Members of the media were not allowed to attend any of the scrimmages between the Paris Olympics-bound national team, led by LeBron James and Stephen Curry, and the USA National Team, made up mostly of young NBA players and Flagg, who will be a freshman at Duke University this fall. No official statistics were recorded for the traditional national team-versus-third-year team game, according to USA Basketball officials, and national team coach Steve Kerr declined to comment on Flagg’s impressive performance, citing NBA rules that prohibit him from publicly speaking about non-draft-eligible players.
But as soon as the gym doors were opened to reporters, Flagg dominated the scrimmage, leading the All-Star team to a comeback with an 11-point blitz that drew laughs and amazement. James, 39, who has a knack for basketball geniuses, congratulated Flagg and slapped him on the butt after the national team’s narrow 74-73 victory.
Flagg, a 6-foot-8 forward and the first college player to be invited to the Select Team in more than a decade, showed why he’s projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. The sleek wing started a scoring rush with a 3-pointer from the left corner over the head of Los Angeles Lakers center Anthony Davis and a post-up turnaround over the head of Boston Celtics guard July Holiday.
Then, with momentum building, the baby-faced Flagg took the ball up court, isolated Davis and launched a side-step 3-pointer over arguably the NBA’s best defender. After the National Team committed a turnover trying to find Davis in transition, Flagg took control of the ball and quickly pushed it forward to Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray, who missed a 3-pointer from an angle to the left. Flagg sprinted the length of the court during the shot, jumped to grab the offensive rebound with both hands in the middle of a jam, and then made a putback in mid-air while being fouled by Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo.
The sequence — the shot, the pass, the rebound and the finish — went viral on social media, with millions of views within the first hour. Flagg scored six points in under 20 seconds to set up a tense final period, and Davis blocked a game-winning jump shot by Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski with a buzzer-beater to prevent a humiliating defeat for the overwhelming gold medal favorites.
Flagg’s game-changing performance was made even more remarkable by the fact that he was five years younger than the youngest player on the national team, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards. When Flagg was born on Dec. 21, 2006, James was in his fourth NBA season and on the cusp of his third All-Star appearance.
“I just competed as best I could,” Flagg said. “I gave 100 percent. I’m confident in my abilities and my skills. I’m confident in who I am and what I can do. It feels surreal to be sharing the court with you.” [with the national team]”I’m blessed to have the opportunity to be here. I wasn’t worried. I wasn’t putting any pressure on myself. I’m here for a reason. I know that.”
Flagg is a hot prospect because of his excellent athleticism, strong athleticism, natural basketball intelligence and the do-it-all play he displayed in front of a few hundred fans on Monday: He’s an effective ball-handler, a willing outside shooter, a physical rebounder, a scorer with a shot on the basket and a multi-positional defender who can handle duties in the paint or on the perimeter — all rolled into one.
If Flagg develops into a commanding player for USA Basketball, his fearless play at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas will be remembered as the first time he proved he could compete with the best players in the world.
“The Select Team was fantastic,” smiled Kerr, while deftly avoiding any direct comments about Flagg. “They challenged us. They were physical. They did a lot of the things that European teams do. It couldn’t have gone any better.”
The only person who seemed unwrapped in the excitement was Flagg, who calmly recounted the events of that afternoon after chatting with fellow Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, a Duke Blue Devil, and USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill. Flagg grew up a Celtics fan and studied Tatum to shape his offensive approach, but he said he’ll feel comfortable facing a USA Basketball team made up of 12 all-stars and nearly as many future Hall of Famers.
“[There was some awe] “At first, I walked into the gym and watched the guys, but once the game started, it wasn’t like that anymore,” he said. “Once the ball goes up, I’m just a competitor. It takes some getting used to being on the court with those guys, but at the same time, I’m just here to play basketball and try to win.” [The national team players] Everyone has been so welcoming. They just tell me to keep working and keep my feet on the ground.”
Flagg, who transferred to his senior year of high school last fall and then led Florida’s Montverde Academy to an undefeated season and a national title, said he’s “aiming” to make the U.S. Basketball team for the FIBA World Cup in Qatar in 2027. By that point, he’ll be 20 years old, coming off a lone rookie season at Duke and two seasons into the NBA.
Flagg, meanwhile, predicts the national team will win a fifth consecutive gold medal in Paris next month.
“They can be any team,” he said. “They have no weaknesses, they have no holes. They can dominate any play. They’re going to be a dominant team that will enforce their will on anybody.”
