Former Duke basketball freshman sensation Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, is coming into the NBA regarded as one of the best prospects in recent memory. He's received praise from several greats around the league, and now Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki has given his two cents on the Dallas Mavericks' new star. Nowitzki, arguably the greatest Maverick in the franchise's history, delivered an NBA Championship to Dallas in 2011 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023. The former superstar now hands the keys for Flagg to take over, especially after the Mavericks traded Luka Dončić. As the Mavericks look to make a deep playoff run in 2026, Flagg will be at the center of it.
Dirk Nowitzki says "sky is the limit" for Cooper Flagg.
Nowitzki recently spoke with The Athletic, and had high praise for Flagg.
“The hype is real, for sure,” Nowitzki told The Athletic about Flagg. “I’m not the biggest college sports watcher in general, whether that’s basketball or any sport, but of course I checked out Cooper. Sky is the limit, honestly. What I saw, just the way he reads the game already at that age. (He’s) barely 18, athletic, (has) skills. I heard his work ethic is through the roof. Everything I saw and heard is he’s the real deal.”
Nowitzki isn't the first NBA great to shower Flagg with compliments, but it's another prominent name that believes the hype with the former AP National Player of the Year.
Blake Griffin, a potential future Hall of Famer, called Flagg "the most complete player that we've seen" this summer.
Flagg is in an exciting spot as a top draft choice. The Maine native was drafted into a situation where his team is ready to win an NBA Championship right now. Most top picks enter rebuilding teams, which are typically bad. The top pick in the draft rarely has an opportunity to win in year one. Then, the Mavericks made the biggest jump in NBA Draft Lottery history to cement Flagg as its cornerstone for the future.