NBA – Cooper Flagg, the diamond that deep America has been waiting for a long time

He is the “Next Big Thing”. It is certainly not up to the madness that had ignited the basketball planet before the draft of Victor Wembanyama. He does not have this “alien” side of Wemby. But Cooper Flagg panics the United States and the NBA. Because in the eyes of many, Duke's prodigy has everything to restore new impetus to the great North American league when he will be the number 1 of the Draft 2025 except earthquake. A kind of CAITLIN Clark NBA version.

Presented as a phenomenon for years now, Cooper Flagg has confirmed all the expectations placed in him for his discovery of the university world. With the Blue Devils of Duke, the winger of 2m05 turned to 18.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.3 against and 1.4 interception of average during his 36 matches of NCAA. And if he was elected best academic player of the year despite his status as “Freshman” -first year player -, he did not play in a team focused on the only desire to swell his stats. In Duke, the collective and the results take precedence. And on this side, it's a real success.

Best marker, smuggler, rebounder and interceptor of his team, Cooper Flagg was the major actor of Duke's return in the Final Four for the first time since 2022 and the retirement of the legendary coach K – Mike Krzyzewski -. Because it does not only have real physical qualities, capable of bringing it very high and wreaking havoc in transition. If the hype has still taken another dimension in recent months, it is because it has shown this year its leadership and a good progression, especially on shots, despite pressure and media expectations.

Mobile, endowed with a fast first step for its size and capable of creating its shoot, the native of Maine, who said he grew up watching videos of Larry Bird, thus seduced by his versatility and his ability to have an impact on both sides of the parquet when he does not hesitate to take the game on his own. As often with this kind of highly anticipated prodigy, comparisons are obviously good, ranging from Scottie Pippen to Grant Hill via Andrei Kirilenko, Kawhi Leonard or Jayson Tatum. Feet on the ground, wants to be “himself” and write his own story.

No one doubts it in any case: the 18 -year -old winger has all the cards in hand to win in the NBA. And his performances against Team USA last summer in training matches before the Olympic Games only confirmed this, when he barely left high school – “He kicked buttocks, “said Jamahl Mosley -.  “This boy is really talented, really intelligentpraised Charles Barkley last week in Dan Patrick Show. He could have taken the 'big head'. He was the best high school player in the country and had the pressure on him, but he was up to what was expected. (…) It's a pleasure to look at it. He's a great young player and I can't wait to see him in the NBA“.

He is not the only one. And some even look with an urge not hidden his arrival in the NBA. With the hope that he will have a little similar impact to that of Caitlin Clark last year in WNBA, the Indiana leader who helped to boost American television audiences. At a time when many European talents are increasingly taking up space in the NBA and the audiences for the major North American league are declining in the United States, Cooper Flagg would have enough to rekindle the interest in the NBA of certain young Americans. For what ? Because deep America could in particular identify with him, to believe some.

“It's been a long time since we had a white boy as hard and as cold as him. I see children who want to be like him and play like him“, Launched in his podcast in 2024 Kevin Garnett, while Flagg could become the first American white player to be number 1 in Draft NBA since Kent Benson in 1977.”Many players come from Europe now. But you need players capable of allowing people in certain regions of our country to recognize themselves inX “, completes Keyon Dooling, passed by the Clippers, the Magic or the Nets.

“I don't want to be racist, but Utah is very white. It is a very white place. I am sure that they consider him their next great hope and that they think that he will adapt to them. He comes from Maine, and I think it's a kind of perfect marriage “, even dared Draymond Green, the Warriors winger, in his podcast last February.

While waiting to know if he will be able to help to win back a certain fringe of America as in the time of the Larry Bird – Magic, Cooper Flagg ignored these debates. It remains concentrated. In exceptional competitor, the new US prodigy wants to continue to meet expectations. And for that, he still has two games to win this week. History to offer Duke a sixth title of NCAA champion, his first since 2015.