The Dallas Mavericks officially introduced Cooper Flagg on Friday, after selecting him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
The 18-year-old who played his only season of college basketball with the Duke Blue Devils is expected to be the next great American player. During his season at Duke, he led the team in all five major statistical categories, despite being a senior in high school, having reclassified from 2025 to 2024.
In most cases, when a team secures the No. 1 pick, it is typically one of the worst in the league, but that wasn't the case for Dallas. In an unheard-of occurrence, the Mavs had just a 1.8% chance of securing the top pick, and ended up doing so after a head-scratching trade during the season that sent 25-year-old All-NBA guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
When speaking to the local media for the first time, Flagg was asked a question that centered around Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic being the faces of the franchise.
Before ESPN's Tim MacMahon could finish his question, when he got to the part where he mentioned Doncic and how that didn't go as planned, Flagg looked off to the side and smirked.
A subtle instance that many fans noticed and attempted to interpret, as Flagg appeared to glance at Mavs general manager Nico Harrison, who was responsible for the trade.
"Was he looking at Nico lmaoooo," asked one fan.
"Such a troll bro lmaoo," added a second.
"Even he knows it’s rigged," speculated another.
"Aye he gone be hilarious because this was really funny," commented one fan.
"He already tired of the Luka questions smh," projected another.
Cooper Flag next to Nico Harrison
Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison (left) with the Mavericks' first overall pick, Cooper Flagg (right).
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Whether he likes it or not, the new face of the franchise will forever be linked to Doncic.
Flagg is set to make his NBA Summer League debut on July 10 against Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers. This will be Dallas' first look at him as their future, and the first step into officially letting go of Doncic.