Duke superstar Cooper Flagg’s mother taunted North Carolina fans with a celebration on Saturday night, and for that she is sorry — sort of.
Flagg had 15 points and 9 rebounds to lead Duke to an 82-69 win over UNC in Chapel Hill on Saturday. With just over a minute remaining in the game, the consensus top overall NBA draft pick put an exclamation point on the Blue Devils’ victory with an emphatic two-handed slam.
Following the play, Flagg’s mother Kelly and father Ralph were shown on the ESPN broadcast doing the “on his head” celebration. Kelly looked around at Tar Heels fans and shouted “on his f–ing head!”
Cooper Flagg mother Kelly taunts fans
Cooper Flagg’s mom: “ON HIS F***ING HEAD!!” 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/5EayQW0YB0
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 9, 2025
In a social media post on Sunday, Kelly apologized to those who were offended by her language during the game. She said she became so animated in response to the way UNC fans had treated her family. She called the celebration “a big F-you to the entire Carolina fan base.”
“I appreciate all of you who have supported us all season long, especially last night after my call for bail money. There were many willing to start a go fund me and several others ready to ride at dawn! I also want to apologize to anyone who was offended by my language that was caught in a celebratory moment,” Kelly wrote in a post on social media. “I do realize that it wasn’t my best look. However, if you actually know me and are a real friend of mine you weren’t shocked. It was a very intense situation we were put into and we were taken aback by the crudeness of the UNC fans as we made our way into the arena. They continued to harass us with much worse being spewed in our direction as well as at our 18 year old son and his teammates throughout the entirety of the game. The celebration was a moment of being so proud of our kid and also a big F-you to the entire Carolina fan base for being classless a-holes! If you are UNC fan and didn’t like it…tough (poop emoji)! Better luck next time! Go Duke!”
Cooper Flagg's mom, Kelly, responds to her viral moment 😳😂 pic.twitter.com/VzNJrsP6Ta
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 10, 2025
The rivalry between Duke and UNC is one of the fiercest in sports. Flagg’s parents, both former college basketball players, seem just as competitive as their son. Flagg’s mother couldn’t have been that surprised by the things Tar Heels fans said to her and her husband, but you can’t blame her for giving it right back.
Flagg is the best player in the country and has dealt with all that goes along with it. His parents experienced some of that on Saturday night, but Mrs. Flagg sure looks like she can handle it.