The Musers- How Good is Cooper Flagg?

0:00I'm Sam Slayton, CEO and co-owner of Sante Center for Healing. We're celebrating 30 years of transforming lives. Every day, families call us in crisis, and every day we show them that recovery is possible. If you or someone you love is struggling, Sante is here for you right now. Please reach out at SanteCenter.com. Next role with Vernon Davis, the Transformer to Journeys of Athletes, Artists, and Entrepreneurs. Ladies and gentlemen, Light South, Sean, Mary. I want to be the biggest and the best when I do. And so whatever it takes, I'll get it done. And business, everything else. All I do is know how to fight and earn what I want. My man, Malik asks, what actor comedian would you want to collaborate with? Me, Jamie Foxley, Kevin Hart in the movie. We said it on Vernon Davis podcast, then. So we'll circle back and be like, yeah, it's going to clear. Next role with Vernon Davis. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. From the NBA and the Mavericks, Cooper Flag is incredible. And it's pretty interesting. We just talked about him. Did a big segment on Friday. Part of that was we haven't talked enough about him

1:03and the remarkable rookie season he has had. And I thought about this over the weekend. Two thoughts. Number one, not only the expectation of being the one one, that that happens anywhere. But I just can't think of another example of a rookie who has come into the league with these circumstances where the guy who was so beloved had just been shipped out of town. And you step into whatever this S storm that has been the Mavericks for the last year. You step into that knowing that the expectations for you are really high. Given where you were taken and who you are. No choice ever your own somehow replacing in Luca. He's had all that pressure on him, which is always a tough transition to go to the NBA. But then at the age of 18 for a guy who should be a freshman in college.

2:08To put up 51 points on Friday night against Orlando. In a loss. And then last night, he backs it up with 45 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, couple of steals, a block. The Mavericks actually beat the Lakers who were without Luca and Austin Reeves. But they had LeBron. And it's a game that finally ends a losing streak for the Mavericks at 14 at home. It's been a miserable year for them in results. And we've all seen they haven't really been trying to win games here. These last a couple of months. But by doing that in the last three days. That hasn't been done 96 points and back-to-back games by a rookie since Wilk Chamberlain's rookie year. It hasn't been done in the NBA. More than, I guess it was 34 rookie since Alan Iverson in 97.

3:16Man, he was incredible. I had to go by highlights on Friday, but I watched pretty much the entire way last night. And not only has he handled himself so well throughout this season, there is a new version now of Cooper Flag that is on display here late in the season. And you can see already his development from back in November and December. Yeah, I think that's sad is he was the first rookie with back-to-back 40 point games since Iverson in 97. Yeah. So yeah, he's doing things that we haven't seen many rookies do and he's doing things that we haven't seen many teenagers do. And that was that was a pretty incredible display yesterday to see 19-year-old Cooper Flag score 45 points and 41-year-old LeBron scoring 30 points and dishing out 15 assists and grabbing nine rebounds.

4:16And that is the first time that's ever happened in NBA history, a teenager and a 40-year-old plus scoring more than 20 in a game, let alone 30 and 45. Yes, it was really an amazing display in a game that, you know, not a whole lot of people cared about. The Lakers have been playing really well and then Luca gets hurt and so now they're going to win seasons over. They're going to limp to the end of the regular season and the Mavericks nobody's really paid much attention to. But what LeBron continues to do is amazing and Cooper Flag is so good. And going back to that segment we did last Friday, I'm not trading him for anybody except Wimbee. You know, you could like we talked about with Donovan, you can kind of talk me into Anthony Edwards. I say no on that one, but yeah, it's a discussion. It's a legitimate discussion and maybe Shay and maybe Cade Cunningham. But really, I'm not giving up Cooper Flag for anybody, but Wimbee. He is so good at both ends and he plays so hard. And again, I thought coming

5:23into this season, he was going to be a very good NBA pro and all star for many, many years. But I did not think he'd be this good this soon. And I've raised my ceiling for him from all star for many, many, many years to he might win a few MVP awards. He might. He should be the rookie of the year. It may go to Con Kinepple. It's a it's a good debate. Personally, I really don't care too much about MVP or rookie of the year debates. It does make me think, wow, would Duke of one by 30 every game. If those two guys had somehow stayed one more year. Yeah. What a team they would have this year. They're both terrific. I think it's pretty clear now that Cooper is going to have a more spectacular NBA career. And it also made me think over the weekend of it is still really interesting, the dynamic of what's happened here over the last year. And I know some Maverick fans

6:29will never get over this. And maybe they won't until there's new ownership here. I don't know. But I do know this as fascinating as who knew what who was in on it. Still can't believe they traded look at Donchich. It truly is time to move on because now you have a centerpiece to build around. Start building around this kid. There are questions who's going to be the GM who's going to be the coach when we talk about that. But man, the future around here, it's another. It's another process that the Mavericks went through not too long ago. But it could even be better here in five or six years. If you can do that very difficult thing about building around a superstar. But man, you're light years ahead of most teams. And there is the factor that I think people players will want to play with him when you get to free agency. You've got a lottery pick

7:31this year or then a couple of years. This could be something really special here because you've got the hardest part to get. And that's a really special player. Well, and it's it's even above that. And I know I've said this a million times over the long gears that we've done this show. But if I'm choosing one guy to build a team around, I want him to be an elite two way player. Your job of building a team around a Dirk or a Luca that were not elite on the defensive end. That's a much more difficult building job than when you start with your building block being a Cooper flag who is potentially elite at both ends. He's damn near there now. I won't quite call him a lead at both ends now, but he's really close as a 19 year old. He's going to be a lead at both ends. That way when your superstar is elite at both ends, you don't have to go find all these extra

8:32defenders to help him to help put makeup on his bad defense. That's a lot harder to build a team that way than when you start with a guy like Cooper flag. So yes, I think it could end up being better for the Mavericks in the long run back to the rookie of the year discussion. I think the Mavericks made a concerted effort beginning on Friday that we are going to get this guy the rookie of the year because they've seen that the voting is close, the polling is close. And I think they decided he's taken 30 shots a game because before Friday, he was taking 15 to 20 shots a game. He hadn't had a game where in the last 12 games, he had only had one game where he had taken 20 shots. So I think they decided feed him the ball, Cooper shoot, take it to the rim, get to the line because these last two games, he shot it 30 times against Orlando and he's

9:34shot at 27 against the Lakers. They're going to make sure he gets the rookie of the year. And I think this weekend with 51 and 45 probably so did up for him. Yeah. And that's fine with me. And you know, the other side of that is you can say that, hey, shoot. You know, he could have gone six to 30, but he did. Right. Right. He knocked him down and he's knocking down. He's taking more three and he's knocking down the threes and he hasn't shot the three ball well. That's one of the areas that needs to improve. And in the last two games, it was terrific. Not say he's going to shoot 50% or better the rest of this year in threes, but it shows you that, yeah, I think his three game will get better. He's going to get stronger. He's, heck, I don't know. He's still growing. He's 19. So yeah, it's really exciting. And if you're thinking, I haven't seen anything like that. Well, nobody has the these last two games. No rookie has ever done it. And it is one

10:38thing to say, okay, let's let's try to do this. But you've also got to perform against two pretty good teams. And man, I just, I just look at him now from what we saw at the beginning of the season, beginning of the seasons. Wow, this gets really, really good. But I'll give some some credit to Jason kid. And the criticism he took about, man, why are you having play the point because it looked ugly early in the season. But man, now you watch him handle and sometimes handle late in the game. And looks pretty darn good to me. And man, he can dribble to a spot and get a shot off and penetrate. And he's just his offensive game. I think he's just scratching the surface there and the so fundamentally sound. As you mentioned on the defensive end. Wow. And he's 19 19. I just can't get over what's he going to be like at 25. Yeah. Incredible. What a night last night. And yeah, as you mentioned, two teams that the Lakers are going nowhere now with the injuries they have going into the

11:43post season. But that was a, that was a show that maybe you'll never see again. A teenager in a 41 year old, putting on a show with 70 some odd points between them. Next role with Vernon Davis, the transformative journeys of athletes, artists, and entrepreneurs. Ladies and gentlemen, lights out. Sean Mary. I want to be the biggest and the best in what I do. And so whatever it takes, I'll get it done and business, everything else. All I do is know how to fight and earn what I want. My man, Malik asks, what actor comedian would you want to collaborate with? Me, Jamie Foxley, Kevin Harry in a moment. We said it on Vernon Davis podcast. So we'll circle back and be like, yeah, it's going to clear. Next role with Vernon Davis. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.