Will Dallas Mavericks’ fans hold Cooper Flagg to the Luka Doncic standard? | Swagu

Will Dallas Mavericks’ fans hold Cooper Flagg to the Luka Doncic standard? | Swagu

What’s up, family? This is Swagoo, man. What’s good? Good to be back. I’ve been on the road, y’all. It’s been a lot going on. We going to get into it. I know the basketball is in full swing. The NBA getting ready for the finals. OKC Indiana Pacers. I think it’s some juice to that, but we’ll get into that. I just want to welcome myself back because y’all when I tell you my kids have had me in a blender. All good things. No negative things. All good things. But I’ve been on the road, man. So, I’m going to talk about my trip. My son made Team USA. I’m going to talk about being in Colorado Springs. I’m also get into some football. Um, it’s the off seasonason and usually we grasping that straws, but thanks to Stefon Digs, we don’t have to. I’m going give my opinion on that as well. Uh, but more importantly, Swagule podcast, like, subscribe, follow. You can find us on all platforms that you find your podcast. And we going to rock out. We going to get into it. First, I want to get into some basketball, but not the finals. I’m here in Dallas. This thing has been so funny, right? We saw Dallas get the number one pick overall with the lottery. I think it was like a 1.8% that they would get that. But the chips fell where they may. Nico Harrison, the GM for the Dallas Mavericks, needed it bad, something to reinvigorate this crew after the Luca Donis trade, after all of the things that were said after that. Um, it’s just been tumultuous around the Dallas Mavericks organization. A little bit was more hurt because some guys got injured unfortunately after the Luca trade. One of those guys being Anthony Davis, but we also got to see a little bit of Anthony Davis brilliance as well. Kyrie suffered a ACL which was very unfortunate. Hopefully he’ll be back next year. The team should be pretty good. But getting into this lottery and getting the number one pick, I want to know from y’all, is it any solace for all of my Mavericks fans that you got the number one pick and that potential number one pick could turn into Coopa Flag who could be a potential generational player, who could carry this franchise. I think he’s that talented. Now, I’m a Cooper Flag fan. I’ve been watching him since high school. I know how good he is. Big frame. we saw what he was at Duke. But unfortunately for Coopin, I’mma bring this into the fray is that he’s going to have to give us some really good returns early because Luca Donis did. Now, it’s not fair. I get it. It’s unfortunate that he’s going to have to come in and make an immediate impact. Obviously, not being a number one score. You still got AD and Kyrie, but you think about the impact that they want to see from their rookie who perceivably is the one that’s going to have to carry the franchise into the new millennial. I don’t even know what that mean in the new decade, new era, whatever. But Luca was able to do that. He gave us he gave us a large sample size of the fact that this was going to be the Luca Donic Dallas Mavericks and everybody else who was going to come and try to help him win a championship. Is Cooper Flag going to get that good to be that player where you can not only compete for championships? But one of the most important things in the NBA now is other superstars coming to play with you. Now, I said I watched Coop in high school. He has a very ease of travel game. When you look at him play basketball, a willing facilitator, a willing passer is what that mean. jumper got to improve like most young players. A defensive nightmare, length, strength, shot blocker, can do all of those things. Can guard positions one through four if need be. 69 can get to the basket. Physical, all the tools, the right mentality as well, man. And I saw Cooper flag and some of these EBL, Nike, EBL GMs. These the best players in the country. A lot of them going to get drafted. My man ain’t back down. My man took a team from Maine to Peace Jam and almost won a championship from Maine. Okay, you get my drift. So, I think he’s ready mentally. I think he’s ready physically. It’s just I’m interested to see. I’m not going to do it, but it’s interested to see if it doesn’t start off the way people think it should. Will those comparisons to Luca and we should have kept Luca and this is Luca’s team and all of that still be here. But we know how this goes, people. If Cooper Flag balls out and he shows promise as a rookie and shows that he can be a franchise leader, we’ll immediately get behind Cooper Flag and this will be Cooper Flags Dallas Mavericks and everybody will be waiting on those seinal moments like Luca gave us to make us feel like, okay, now we got to now we now we got players around him. We got somebody to build this franchise around. Remember before Luca it was Dirk, then Luca, and now I’m betting that everybody hopes it’s Coopa flag. And for Nico Harris’s sake, because I like Nico, the general manager for the Dallas Mavericks, who’s been through it all after this Luca Donas trade, I pray Cooper Flag turns into what we think he’s going to turn into, cuz it’ll be a good it’ll be a good soft landing for Nico if this works out. He already got the draft pick. Now you going to take Cooper Flag. Don’t trade it, Nico. And then this could be a good soft landing based on how Cooper Flag performs. State of the Dallas Mavericks after getting the number one pick. How lucky are they? Jeez. I mean, we went from we went from crying to dang get Cooper flag. And I say we because I have like Dallas and the New Orleans Pelicans on my teams. Obviously, I’m from Louisiana. The Pelicans, I’m I rock with them hard, but I’m a Mavs fan as well. Dallas is my second home. I like the Mavs. I like when the Mavs have success. The Mavs play have played really good basketball. I’ve seen them win a championship since I’ve been here as well. So, I like the Mavs. I hope Cooper Flag can be that guy. All right. NBA Finals, man. Last night, OKC Minnesota OKC put the clams down. OKC look like the OKC that everybody has been telling me about all season long that are about 12 deep. Exaggeration 10 that can play at a very high level. They on a string. But the one thing I enjoy about the Oklahoma City Thunder is Alex Caruso. You see, there’s always those guys. There’s the these for my basketball people now. There are the Bruce Bowens. There are the PJ Tuckers. There are the Drew Holidayidays. There are the uh Robert Oesies. There are these players that seem to always be around really high level basketball and championship basketball and they defend. And Alex Caruso has brought that to Oklahoma City. We know Sheay is the guy. We know Sheay is the guy that they’re leaning on to take them all the way to the promised land. By the way, the Hallebert and Shay matchup is going to be phenomenal. I know everybody is like, “Is this really exciting?” Yeah, for me, cuz I love basketball. I love the best of the best playing at the very highest level. You don’t get to pick your team. That’s the beauty of it. You don’t get to put your team in the championship. Your team got to win to get to the championship. I was It was an exciting run with the New York Knicks. It was exciting with Minnesota. All of that was exciting. But uh this about to be some really good basketball, man. Now, it may not have all of the names and the storylines that everybody want to create, but they usually come. I think this is going to be a magnificent series of basketball. But I like Halle Burton and I like Shay Gildish Alexander matching up against each other in the NBA finals. Two young players that’s trying to put their staple on what they are in this league, playing at a very high level and two teams that are very well coached that have have depth, can play the type of games you want to play, whether that’s physical shot making, finishing at the rim. You know, last night you look up and you see what OKC was able to do, spreading that thing out. I think 20 in the first half by Shay, 15 by Chet. Um if it even though they have the league MVP in Shay and the superstar, it still feels like a team. It still feels like any moment anybody can explode and they are full of talent. And that trade for Ku I mean that that acquiring of Caruso and Hardenstein has made all of the difference in the world. You get a little veteran presence. You get defensive prowess. You get the ability to play any way people want to play. Big, small, you can do a lot. See, that’s why I’m telling y’all basketball, this is great series for basketball because you going to see a lot of adjustments. Rick Carl, one of the best coaches in the NBA have has been for a while. does a phenomenal job. Teams just end up deep in the playoffs into the finals when he’s coaching them. He’s really good at what he does. I’m interested to see this series, man. I’m looking forward to it. Yeah, it was exciting with the Knicks and and and being in there and the garden was the garden again and everybody woke up and everybody was like, “Oh, what if the Knicks get to the championship?” Well, not going to happen. Not going to happen, Calvin. Two really good teams in the finals, man. NBA news. I know y’all been following the coverage. Y’all following my dog Big Perk. Y’all following Stephen A and Malikica, Richard Jefferson, everybody talking about it. Chana, everybody talking about it. Y’all get ready. Let them get y’all ready. Get them settled in. And then Chuck and Shaq and Kenny and Ernie. Obviously, I just, you know, it’s great time of the year, man. And I’m a basketball guy for anybody that knows that. As much as I love football, I love basketball. All right, that’s all I have to say about that. Like far as gum, Swaggle podcast, like, subscribe, follow. You can find us on any platform, also on YouTube. We do videos. We do shows. All right, man. Let me get into a little bit of NFL offseason shenanigans, if that’s what we going to call it. All right, so I’m sure everybody by now has seen the viral video of Stefon Digs. And look, man, I’m really not the one to get into people personal life. I’m really not the one to, you know, you do what you do on your own time. Whatever you do in in your own time, you know, if it’s good or if it’s bad and get found out, the reaction is the reaction. And I’m sure everybody by now has seen Stefan Diggs on a boat, ladies dancing, partying, having conversations. Um, I’m not going to speculate anything was going on other than a young man having a party on a boat. Now, here’s the thing. Optics matter in 2025. So, just from a OG stuff, the optics matter, man. One, I get it. I get the social footprint. I get the social media. I get the opportunities that come from it. Let me say this, man. Everything don’t have to be recorded. I mean, not everything. Like, if you want to record something, we we all got editing. We all know that you can record something, make something look like what it’s really not. But in that particular situation, it’s just the look, right? Nobody can definitively say that Steph did anything wrong or he was doing anything that would jeopardize. Nobody can say that. It’s just the optics. It’s it’s it’s the it’s the it’s the opinions people are going to form about that and not just not people cuz people going to form opin you could have been standing there silent not moving and somebody would have made a a video saying man the man going crazy he need help. It’s not that that’s not the point that th those people don’t matter. It’s the people that you work with. It’s the people that pay you pay you pay you to do what do your job. It’s the people that are close to your family members. Whatever those optics create, just remember they got to deal with that as well, not just you. So I I like this a recurring theme and look, I I understand it. Like I understand the opportunities that dudes get when they are present on social media. I understand all of that. I’m not saying get rid of it. I’m just saying control your narrative. We going to go back to media 101. When I was coming out of high school, college, control your narrative. control your story. Control what you want people to perceive you as when you in a public forum. Now, I ain’t getting into what you are when ain’t nobody looking cuz you know that’s between you and God. But I will say that these decisions that that a lot of guys and women are making, it really ain’t a good look. Even though people cheering you on, it really ain’t a good look. Even though people telling you, “Oh, that’s tough man on a boat. Here’s what you got to realize, Steph. Young men in these positions with a lot of money, the ability to do things that we never dreamed of. I’ve been there before. That’s what you got to realize, bro. The influence that you all have, I think sometimes y’all don’t realize how much, and I’m not telling you to be something you don’t want to be, a role model. I’m not. That’s not the point. The point is this is that your content and the things that you put out, you signal to people that look up to you in a major way that this is okay. Again, let me state this. I looked at the video. I looked at stuff. I was like doing what young young players do. But again, you also got to let people know that you’ve put yourself in a position to be able to do something like this and have a leg to stand on from your professional career. You’ve done enough. It’s different for rookie. It’s different if a guy not with your statue does it. It probably is going to be perceived different in that office, front office, or people say, “Man, I don’t know if I, you know, I don’t know if I want want that associated with what what with with what what you going to be with this football team. I’m just giving y’all the game. Don’t don’t don’t get mad at the messenger.” So, so to Steph to Man, go out, have a good time, bro. Go do your thing. Have good clean f fun. Don’t f find yourself in any of these situations that’s going to wreck you or wreck your family catastrophically. But ultimately, fam, like y’all, just be aware of these optics. Be aware of how people be aware of somebody can video something and then it gets out to the public and people can perceive it a completely different way. And that can be attached to your character. And y’all know how this machine work. It just snowball and everything else. And people start digging. What about this? What about that? I guess I’mma be on this soap box. All right, let me say this, man. I I just feel like I need to say this. There is a This is about me personally. There is a there is this idea with what I do now cuz people ask me all the time when I’m in in with my kids and gyms and moving around. Man, why you ain’t on TV? When you on when you back on TV? First of all, I hate that cuz you’ll see me when I get back on there if you watch every day like you said. But the other point is this, and I know in this medium this is going to be so offthe-wall and off-kilter, man. I’m not interested in everything. I don’t have something to say about everything. I don’t have something to say about what people say. I don’t have something to say about what people do. I these things that we go through with my producers when we come on this podcast is really about conversation. You hopefully I’m I’m I’m giving information that’s either teaching or making you think a different way. But I just feel like we in this culture now where everybody got to comment on it. Everybody got to say something about everything. You ain’t got to say something. You You don’t have to say nothing. Hey, you don’t have to say nothing. Now, our job, my job requires me to speak on certain things, which is why I brought the Stefon Diggs situation up and I use it as a as an example to try to teach. And I’m not acting like I’m I know everything, but trying to give Steph a little game about, you know, how you moving. You know, how you move is is is is important when you in in that in that position. Back to my soap box, man. Like, I’m in offseason. My kids are very busy. My wife, this time I make up with them, man. I’m not trying to get involved in every conversation going on in the diaspora. I disagree with a lot of things that people say, but I don’t know them. I don’t need to I don’t need to speak on that unless it’s something that really gets me really puts me in a situation where I feel like I need to comment on something that is just egregious or something that I love that somebody said. So that’s why I swag like that. So when things are happening out here in the world and things are happening in the sports world, I know the number one general qu why you ain’t at work cuz I ain’t and I ain’t about to say nothing about that. I’ll tell y’all this and we’ll move on. This is all around the Stefan Digs things, man. Be careful where you get energy. be careful what you’re talking about, what you’re doing, who you’re around. Like people, we are in a day and age where people want the camera to catch them. They want to be on camera. They want to be at the center of attention. They want to get all the attention. Man, listen. I have been a highlevel athlete since I was 16, 15 years old. I’ve gotten attention because of sports, because of being in my little small fishbowl, going to LSU, playing for the Dallas Cowboys, and now working in TV. It is old. You know what I enjoy? I enjoy my job. I enjoy talking about football. I enjoy talking about basketball. I enjoy chopping it up with my colleagues. I enjoy talking to fans. I like all of that stuff because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing it. my the the the bosses at ESPN know and I’ve always said this publicly and privately. When I stop having fun, I’m out. I’m having fun, man. So, I’m not giving my energy to things that’s going to always have me in this revolving cycle of we going through this, we going through that. No, I’m not doing that. I’m not competing. I’m not doing any of that. I’m here to have a great time with great people and laugh and talk ball. And hopefully the audience feels that coming off of me and we could keep rocking together. Hopefully that’s why y’all tap into the Swaggo podcast as erratic as I am in offseason cuz I be focused on my kids. All right, speaking of my kids, I just had to get that off my chest. Stefan, watch how you moving. Tell your young you young youngest, watch how they moving. Tell the old vets y’all watch how y’all moving. And everything don’t have to be recorded. And you don’t have to say something about everything. That’s the gist of that. Hopefully New England still figure that out. Him and Vera probably talk. All right, man. Watch what you’re doing. Peace. Let me get to the summer, y’all. I’m tired. I’m tired, but it’s a good time. So, I was in Colorado Springs for like four days. My son was trying out for the U16 national basketball team and he made it. And I have been first of all a little history. My son Marcus Spears Jr. He is number three ranked player in the class of 2027 in basketball. He’s a 68 long range. Got his mama’s body style. Did not get mine cuz he probably be playing left tackle. Family has got mama the Smith side of her. My my wife made name is Smith. She was a basketball player, pro basketball player. Got drafted seventh overall to the WNBA. I’m giving her all the credit for my son and his bill and the way that he do things. They the same person, male, female. But my son was in Colorado Springs at the USA training facility making a team. They invited, I believe, 36 kids. They cut it to 18, then they cut it to 12. My son made the final 12. So, he is a team USA national basketball player. I’m proud as hell of that, man. I watched him. I went down four or five days. Um you it’s either me and my wife, we interchange. I’m like, “My baby out there, he hooping, man. Let me go check him out.” So he out there, he playing well. A lot of really good basketball players there. And USA is a little bit different. It’s not just about talent. It’s about fit, how this team will mold, the the the the intangibles that you do. Cuz it was a really good All 36 that was invited were really good basketball players, good kids. Like that. that’s not something that they um that they waver on with USA basketball, but the honor of making that team and the historical references that are made, the guys that have come before you in that system and um going represent your country in in the American Cup basketball, like that’s that’s big, man. That’s big for all of the things that we have going on in this country and it’s a lot a lot of go on. When my son was announced to be one of the 12 guys that the that made that roster, there was a sense of proudness and pride for him going represent team USA. I don’t know what it was y’all. It was his hard work. It was it that paying off. It was me thinking about all of the grace, the dream teams. It was all of the high school kids that made this team and been successful. all of those things. It’s a culmination of all of that, the coaches that put a lot of time into him. So, it was a phenomenal thing to watch and witness and then see him eventually make the team along with some other players. One of his good friends, Beckham Black, another kid from Dallas who Anthony Black, his brother plays for the Orlando Magic. Him and my son are really cool. They they both made the team representing the the Texas two kids from Texas. But I saw I I saw something out of my son beyond basketball that made me very proud. Saw leadership. So I’m talking to players, getting to know guys, understanding that the chemistry that they going to have on the road when they play is going to be vitally important if they run up against some rough times, but just seeing them grow. My summers are packed with this. My daughter is going to be a freshman at the University of Texas playing volleyball in a couple days. She’s going try out for USA volleyball under 19 team. I mean, the blessings that keep on happening between our kids. My 12-year-old volleyball player, she’s going to nationals in Kansas City, playing at a very high level, really good volleyball player on that same trajectory that all that that her older sister and brother on to to for the recognition and all of that type of stuff. Gonna be that type of player. But here’s the thing. My wife has done such a phenomenal job with these kids and helping them understand that not only is it a a privilege to be able to do what you do, but it’s a blessing. And I think when I get to the summer, man, in the offseason, as I’m coming off of saying I don’t want to be talking about everything, I think what I realize is that watching them, first of all, you way more nervous for your kids than you ever been for yourself. If you’re a former professional athlete, if you got kids, you are, you know what I’m talking about. You be Look, man, I was at every one of them practices like he was trying out for the for for the NBA. I keep it in, but on the sideline, I’m like, “Come on, man. do your thing, right? My son really good, but it’s a lot of really good basketball players all over the world. You you competing against kids all over the world. My daughter is going to compete against volleyball players all over the world. She’s done she’s been in this before. She’s made a USA team before. Car experience. So again, when I’m in the offseason, man, and my kids are moving around like this and I’m getting an opportunity to spend this time with them because when football season start, it’s head down, full go. I’m in it. I make what I can make with them. But going back to my wife, she’s done a phenomenal job getting them, helping them understand that. And they they they like we’re a really close-knit family. That’s why y’all see Swagoo disappear most of the time when it’s not football season cuz we are we together and we doing things and they busy and we rolling. But it’s been it’s been a it’s been a great summer so far. It’s a lot of basketball left. My daughter volleyball left. It’s my both my daughters volleyball left. Great summer so far. But my son made Team USA under 16 roster and they going to get ready to go. They practicing still and they about to get ready to go and play in another country and try to win gold. So hopefully when I come back on this podcast, I can tell y’all I got a gold I got two gold medalists in the house cuz my daughter won a gold medal for the 19 volleyball team when she was only 16 years old. Hello. All right, man. I know it was a Memorial Day. Shout out to the ones that gave it all. Um, thank you for your service. I wasn’t able to say that on that day cuz obviously we didn’t do the podcast, but thank you. We not too far removed to know that the job that you all you you men and women are doing is the reason why we able to do what we do. So, I wanted to I wanted to absolutely say that. And food will be coming, man. Y’all know I’m a foodie. It’s the summer. Food will be coming. I just been on the road. I’m telling you, I’ve been on the road. So when I get to it, I’mma get to it. But been uh my wife been putting me on this uh quick funny story before we leave. We going to end on this. My wife has put me on I drink every morning. So she got this olive oil, cayenne pepper, lemon juice. I think that’s it. And I’m drinking that every morning, y’all. It’s good for you. My skin is starting to get shiny. I’m starting to feel good. Um, y’all know I don’t know the benefits. I just listened to her and she was like, “We going to drink this in the morning.” All right. Well, guess what? That’s what we’re doing. I’m starting to feel it though. Starting to feel it. I think, like I said, I think it’s olive oil, lemon juice, cayenne pepper. And, you know, it’s it’s supposed to help your insides, clean your insides, get your skin right, and your organs and all of that type of stuff. That’s what I’m doing right now. Along with eating some steak and some chicken, some salads, and some I’m eating good still. I just ain’t putting nothing on the grill. I will though, man. Happy summer to y’all, man. It’s uh it’s a beautiful time. Enjoy your families. Um stay locked in, man. Stay locked in. Watch the optics. All right. Watch the optics. We got the NBA finals coming up. We going to have a conversation about is the NBA playoffs too long? I think they are. I know it’s not popular opinion, but I think they are. Um, much love family. Like, subscribe, follow. This has been the Swaggle Podcast. I’mma tap in with y’all. I ain’t going to say next week cuz I don’t know. I might be in an undisclosed location in a whole another country and maybe we could take some electronics there. If not, I’ll see y’all when I get back. Peace and love.

Swagu is BACK and talking about his Dallas Mavericks winning the NBA Draft Lottery and lining up to take a generational prospect in Cooper Flagg. Plus, Swagu shares why he’s excited for a potential Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Indiana Pacers matchup in the NBA Finals. Later, Swagu shares advice for Stefon Diggs after being seen on a yacht during New England Patriots’ team activities. Plus, Swagu hops on his soapbox and shares exciting news about Marcus Spears Jr.

0:00 Welcome to the Swagu Podcast
1:12 Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Draft Lottery, likely to pick Cooper Flagg No. 1
6:58 Why Swagu is excited for the NBA Finals
11:36 Stefon Diggs on a boat
16:48 Swagu’s Soapbox
21:43 Swagu’s son Marcus Spears Jr. makes Team USA U16
28:38 Swagu’s new morning concoction

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