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In the midst of the television classifications in Declive, the NBA welcomed its new young superstar to the league on Wednesday night when Cooper Flagg was recruited with the general selection number 1 by the Dallas Mavericks outside Duke.
As one of the most publicized perspectives in the recent history of the NBA, many experts are anoking the native of 6 feet and 9 inches of Maine as potentially the next face of the league.
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Here is everything you should know about Flagg, which has already made a remarkable story before even entering a NBA court:
Flagg is the first white American to be recruited No. 1 in general in almost 50 years, which causes a controversial attention of the media in the race
The last time an American white player as Flagg was the first selection in the NBA draft was Kent Benson in 1977. Since then, each first general selection has been a minority, born abroad or both.
The ESPN star, Stephen A. Smith, commented on the color of Flagg’s skin during a televised discussion on the network with coanfrerion Jay Williams in March while discussing the commercialization of the phenomenon in the NBA.
Cooper Flagg, on the right, shakes the NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after being selected for the first time in general by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA basketball draft, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
“Think of all the conversations we have, regardless of whether players like or not, I hate it, but is it real who will be the face of the league?” Williams asked.
“Cooper Flagg now. There are photos of him in university basketball with his face and the American flag behind this. Think of everything that happens in our country at this time. What it means to be America. ‘FIRST AMERICA’. Okay?
Smith intervened, saying: “I love what you mentioned. Cooper Flagg, the American flag, and let’s call what it is, white. We see some of these European brothers, but again, the European is not American. When you look at it from that point of view, the commercialization.”
Smith followed the subject with similar comments in May during an ESPN “First Take” episode.
“When you have someone with that type of potential, and they are white and you are in the United States, you keep that guy. I tell you right now,” said Smith. “The first order of business is that it can dance. It is because it can play, but the fact that it is white, commercialized, even its name makes it more commercializable. I am not happening that at all.”
Meanwhile, the British media “The Guardian” published a feature in December entitled “Cooper Flagg: the ‘Cold-A-White Boy’, 17, breaking the basketball speech.” The article referred to Flagg as “the next great Blanca hope, Caitlin Clark 2.0”.
The article was very criticized for putting such a focus on Flagg’s career.
Flagg’s writing by Mavericks is the theme of generalized conspiracy theories
The Mavericks ended with the first selection this year despite having only 1.8% possibilities, the desire of the 11th best of the League, to get the selection in the draft lottery after ending the season with a record of 39-43.
The result of the miraculous lottery of the Mavericks occurred months after the organization made a questionable exchange to send to the superstar Luka Donc to the Lakers of Los Angeles of LeBron James in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first round of 2029, which many experts considered a well -being value for maiden.
This sequence of events led many fans and experts to speculate on possible conspiracy theories about how and why Dallas obtained the choice despite having such low probabilities.
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June 25, 2025; Brooklyn, NY, USA.; Cooper Flagg arrives before the first round of the NBA 2025 draft at Barclays Center. (Brad Penner-Imagn images)
During Wednesday’s draft at Barclay Center in New York City, a fan attending “Dallas was manipulated”, which was captured in the ESPN transmission.
Flagg himself was asked about these theories during a press conference on Wednesday night after being recruited.
“I don’t know what to say about that. I don’t have internal information, if that’s what you’re looking for. But I feel blessed by the way everything worked.”
Flagg is Native of Maine and told him that he would never get to division I, much less to the NBA
Flagg was born in Newport, Maine, a state that does not have the brightest story of producing basketball talent.
The most prominent player who left Maine was the former Olympic gold medalist Jeff Turner, who played to Vanderbilt in the early 1980s and played in the NBA since 1984-96. But I was out of the NBA since 1986-89 while playing in Italy.
Miami Heat player Duncan Robinson was born in Maine, but grew up in New Hampshire and was not recruited in the 2018 draft.
Flagg said he told him The Association press In May, they told him that his experience as Mainer led many to tell him that “never” would play the basketball of Division I.
Duke Blue Devils Cooper Flagg striker (2) walks to the bank during the first half against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Spectrum Center. (Images Jim Dedmon-Imagn)
“Growing up in Maine, there are people who told me that I could never reach the next level or play basketball from Division I because I am from Maine and nobody plays there,” Flagg said. “I think that only that message does not matter where you are, as long as you work hard and trust yourself and trust your ability, then you can really achieve anything.”
Flagg did not let skepticism impact its ambitions.
“It doesn’t matter where you are from,” Flagg said in Draft Combine. “If you have a goal, if you have a dream and you put your mind … I want to say, sincerely, for me, it was not real until I was in high school, but I always loved the basketball game. I always put the job. I always wanted to be the best thing it could be.”
Now, instead of an obstacle, Flagg’s home state has given him a unique nickname: “Maine’s event.”
Flagg has aligned with a helpless in the NBA shoes wars
While most NBA stars have clothing agreements with Nike or Under Armor, Flagg has taken a different flag in retail wars.
Flagg is signed with New Balance, which is based in the neighbor of Massachusetts of its origin. Other NBA stars signed with that brand include Kawhi Leonard, Jamal Murray, Tyrese Maxey, Dejunte Murray, Zach Lavine, Darius Garland and Aaron Nesmit.
But now Flagg can prove to be the largest brand ambassador so far, since the company seeks to face the leaders of the Nike and Under Armor market.
“I am very proud to call Maine my native state and I am grateful for all the support I have received,” Flagg said in a press release sent to Pak Gazette Digital. “Thanks to Government Mills and New Balance for helping to strengthen my belief in the value of teamwork and that if you stick to something and keep working, you can make something happen.”
Nike has been very criticized during the last year by women’s sports rights activists for their Official Posture of the Company in supporting trans athletes in female sports and girls.
