Cooper Flagg introduced as a member of the Dallas Mavericks [FULL PRESS CONFERENCE] | NBA on ESPN

Cooper Flagg introduced as a member of the Dallas Mavericks [FULL PRESS CONFERENCE] | NBA on ESPN

yes hello we good to go
all right thanks everybody for coming really appreciate you guys for showing up um I I’ll say a few things and then we’ll get to the questions uh I mean what an amazing day for the fans of Dallas for the city of Dallas and then also for the franchise uh Kelly Ralph um I want to commend you on the job you’ve done with Cooper not only putting the ball in his hands but uh the person that you’ve raised everybody that I talk to whether it’s the coach it’s about when I can coach my best player hard my job’s easy um so J Kids you can coach him hard
cool uh his teammates the first thing they say is he’s the most competitive he’s the best teammate I ever had uh the people that are around the team the the support staff like he’s not entitled he just wants to be part of the group when you talk about building the championship culture and you talk about winners those are the things that are are made of and so just want to commend you on the job you’ve done uh because he’s he’s more than just a basketball player and that’s why he’s so special uh and with that I’ll open it up to questions welcome to Dallas Cooper we’re happy you’re here first question you’re a versatile two-way threat if you had to pick would you rather make a big block or posterize someone with the dunk
oh yeah great question great question um that’s a good question i think uh maybe a dunk maybe a post dunk um I feel like you know there’s a lot of energy that that goes with a play like that
all right thank you Cooper mike Curtis Dallas Morning News welcome to Dallas um shortly after ma the Mavericks got the number one pick there was a video that surfaced of you 13 14 years old in the Maverick shirt um could you just take us give us the context behind that moment and that decision to wear that shirt and what’d you know about the franchise growing up in Maine
uh yeah i mean I was I think I was 13 years old um you know I had a good a really good friend who is a diehard Mavericks fan and um he’s a little older than me and he had kind of outgrown some of his clothes so he um you know lent them lent them down to me and at the time you know you’re just wearing what you can you know going through wearing clothes and I love basketball and so I just put it on and and went for my workout
then um do you know the summer league plan for you at all i know it’s still pretty early but um yesterday they announced that the Mavericks are going to be playing the Lakers just wanted to know if you had any plans
uh I’m not exactly sure on a plan i’m planning on playing um but yeah I’m not sure on any sort of plan i don’t think we’ve had any of those conversations yet uh you seem so excited to see Caniple and Malawatch both get drafted what does the success of your teammates mean to you and how are you going to take that to the NBA
absolutely i think it means everything to me um especially those two guys um the the greatest teammates the greatest people you know that I’ve had the privilege of spending time with um Khan was my roommate all year and then Kaman me and him have a really special bond um on and off the court so I think just being able to see that for them was really special for me um they mean a lot to me and I think it’s just such a dream come true for all of us that um was just really exciting for me tim McMahon ESPN um there’s a statue of Dirk outside the arena obviously he was the face of this franchise for a long time he kind of handed the baton to Luca the anticipation is he would have been the face for a long time plans changed there’s now that anticipation for you h how do you feel about kind of that that lineage um and the responsibility that comes with those sort of expectations yeah i mean I’m I’m coming in just trying to learn and trying to get better every single day um and I think if I can do that to the best of my ability I think expectations and and pressures that other people you know will put on me and our team that will kind of work itself out so you know I’m just trying to come in and be the best that I can be and just win at the highest level
hey Cooper uh Christian Clark with the Athletic um you know a lot of lot of number one picks uh you know they’re joining situations where it’s going to it’s going to take a while to be competitive what are your thoughts on coming into a situation where you know they got a lot of you know talent and and veteran pieces already on the roster and kind of built to compete right now yeah um I think it’s a blessing um like you said a lot of people in this position or the situation aren’t you know granted this opportunity so I just feel really blessed um and grateful for for the situation I’ve been given and I’m just looking forward to being a sponge you know just getting down here um excited to just learn um soak it all in and learn from the guys that are older and have been through it all before cooper Joey started with clutch points over here um we talked to Paige the other day Paige Beckers and she said that she gave you a hard time for going to Duke instead of Yukon want to get your thoughts on that and then also just her her overall game what do you think about her game with her playing in Dallas as well
yeah I mean she’s great um obviously I went on a visit to Yukon and you know I was able to meet her when I was on my visit and talk a little bit um she’s a great person um she’s had an incredible career so far um but I think it’s funny i mean that’s just kind of how that you know back and forth college stuff goes so I think it’s it’s funny but um yeah she’s a great player um she’s had a great career and she’s a great person skyler Dixon with the AP uh Cooper this is quite the scene the hoopla is only going to probably go up from here how does being at a program like Duke um a storied program like that help you sort of deal with what you what this is today and what you’re going to face going forward
yeah I think um you know being being able to go to Duke and be under that spotlight um it’s kind of a good preparation um and then even nowadays with NIO era and stuff like that um college kids are kind of under a bigger microscope than ever um so I think it’s a great preparation honestly for for me to kind of comes to the next level and I’ve had a year to kind of deal with a lot of that stuff and the media and all that that different stuff so I think it’s just great for me to kind of have that year of preparation hey Cooper Cooper Sam Ganon Fox 4 congratulations i know you’re a fan of the lobster roll but now coming to Dallas are you ready to embrace the Texas barbecue and Mexican food scene
for sure i love I love Mexican i love um barbecue so I’m excited to you know find some some good spots hey Cooper Landon Thomas Maz Fans for Life um not a lot of number one picks have the luxury of playing with future Hall of Famers when you have Kyrie Irving Klay Thompson Anthony Davis what excites you about that
yeah I think like I said earlier just being able to to be a sponge um those guys have so much knowledge um they’ve they’ve been through so much and they have so much experience that um it’s just going to be an incredible opportunity for me to learn um and grow under them cooper uh Brad Towns and Dallas Morning News uh fans and media alike have been trying to pencil your pencil you into the lineup unsure whether guard forward what do you primarily see yourself playing you know after talking to uh Jason um I think uh it’s a versatile position you know doing a lot of different things um I think you know with the team looking at the roster we can play a really good brand of positionless basketball um with a lot of guys I can do a lot of different things so I think that’ll be one of you know the biggest strengths and I think just trying to play to that and just doing whatever I can to help the team win jason Eddie Sefco and Mavs.com uh you’ve been and have been around a lot of young uh talented players uh how do you go about molding Cooper and and bringing him along to uh become the the the star that everybody thinks he will be yeah I think um just from past experiences uh being in this seat you know being one um but just sitting here listening to him is it incredible i mean we’re talking about a 18-year-old who has all the right answers um and it’s talking about working out after this um but you know when you talk about um his gift um he’s a basketball player and uh you he’s a winner and uh I thought he answered the question about position perfectly um because I don’t look at the position you know I I want to put him in the at the point guard i want to make him uncomfortable um and see how he reacts um being able to run the show um being able to play the two play the three he’s he’s comfortable playing that um but we want to push um and I think uh he he’s going to respond in a positive way um it’s all right to fail it’s all right to turn the ball over we’ve talked about that um you know just understanding the guys that I’ve been around that have been young from Giannis giving him the ball and he failed um but he he wanted to come back and have the ball so I’m excited about giving him the ball against the Lakers and see what happens let’s get it started right off the bat um but you know I think um just his poise he’s going to be successful for a long time he likes to work he’s not afraid to work and he comes from a great family so I’m I’m very blessed and the Mavs are very blessed to have him uh a part of the family cooper Dorothy Gentry I Messenger Media two fun questions for you who’s on your Mount Rushmore for NBA and WNBA players and what’s your favorite basketball movie and why um my favorite basketball movie is Hooers um you know that was one of my favorite movies growing up i watched it hundreds of times um my Mount Rushmore of NBA players I would say Larry Bird Michael Jordan um LeBron and probably Kobe and then WNBA um Candace Parker um Britney Grryer um I think Asia Wilson is on there and then um I might put Kaylin Clark on there just cuz um she’s changed the game so much and is heading in the right direction and um I just love what she’s been able to do
in the back Nory Scrugs NBC V uh question for you Jason um having sat in that seat before when you were drafted number two overall knowing the expectations that the fan base has and representing Hope what’s the one bit of advice that you could give Cooper that maybe you didn’t have when you first came to town with all the hope and hype being a number one pick
yeah I think um he’s he brought it up earlier he’s very lucky to have veterans future Hall of Famers um when you talk about um Kai and Clay and then AD um just understanding the vets are going to you know protect him and help him um and they’re going to push him when I was drafted we were the maybe the youngest team um when you talk about Jimmy and Jamal we just didn’t have um a lot of vets i know more WY is here um no no disrespect he was a vet um but we didn’t have future Hall of Famers um so I think when you when he’s stepping into this situation there’s no better situation for him to learn um the game um on and off the floor jonah Jad here with WFA cooper your parents are front row and have been an integral part of your journey I’m sure was there a moment growing up in childhood that you remember when they kind of really fostered your love for the game um as soon as I can remember uh I always had a ball in my hands um as soon as I was able to shoot outside we had an outdoor hoop you know mom dad outside playing pig with us shooting around with us just kind of having the ball in our hands at a really young age so um they’re definitely you know um the people that did that and you know I’m very thankful that they did
uh Cooper Lawrence Dow of fourstar telegram you chose a number 32 can you talk about what went behind that choice of jersey of jersey number yeah so 32 has always been my number um I wore it as a little kid wore it in middle school high school um last year obviously it’s retired for um Christian Lener so I wasn’t able to wear it but um just excited to to get back to my number
cooper Faith Knight with D210 Sports being the second youngest um draft number one pick overall behind LeBron James what advantage do you feel you possess that has helped you get to this point in your career
um I think just having incredible people around me um I have a really good support system and um group of people around me that have you know helped me make decisions and things like that um starting with my parents and my brothers um have been with me every step of the way and kind of helped me to get to where I am in every way so I think just having incredible people around me is really the biggest thing that’s helped me to get to where I am
abby Jones oh Abby Jones DLS Sports cooper welcome to Dallas and congratulations this is a two-part for Cooper and Jason your team uh your experience with Team USA and playing there you know how has that kind of contributed to how you’re going to transition into the NBA and then Jason you know with your experience with Team USA as well and the Olympic staff um as a player and now a head coach how are you able to you know manage Cooper and meet him there yeah I think that experience was you know really important for me it was such a good learning experience for me to just be able to go out there and share the court with 12 13 Hall of Fame caliber players so I think it was just incredible for me to get on the court get comfortable and see what that was like so I think that will help me make this transition and just being confident in myself hey Cooper pat Dhoni with NBC here in Dallas welcome to Dallas here in the middle uh everyone around you talks about your competitiveness and that you’ve always been driven by being great from a young age i’m curious what is it that drives you and what are your expectations when it comes to now your NBA career to not make this the highlight of your career getting to the NBA being the number one pick
you want to answer that question
no don’t forget that question go ahead
okay yeah I think um the competitiveness I think it just started from a young age um playing with my brothers playing with my mom in the driveway um you know fostering that competitive spirit and just loving to win i think that’s you know a really big part of it is just loving to win and um that’s why I play the game i play to win um play to compete play play to play really hard um and so those are the reasons that I love the game and I fell in love with the game and I think that’s what’s kind of created that competitive spirit and drive noah Weber from the Smoking Cuban cooper welcome to Dallas this is a question for both you and Coach Kid cooper from your conversation so far with your head coach and your general manager what do you think that Maverick’s culture is and how can you add to that and coach kid with how you know Cooper so far how do you think that he can add to Mav’s culture and what y’all have built
yeah I think obviously um something that’s talked a lot about is you know being a two-way guy um the culture of playing both sides of the ball um playing really hard making the right plays all the time so I think that’s something that I’m able to do you know at a high level just make the right plays and play both sides of the ball i
I think when you talk about the culture about winning uh as he’s just brought up you know he’s going to do whatever it takes to win uh he might have 10 points one night and and two steals but just understanding that it’s all about the W’s and so the culture here in in Mavs land is is about winning and it’s about winning a championship cooper Grant Absth from Dallas hoopsjournal.com what do you feel like you improve the most during your season at Duke and what are some of the focuses in your development right now as you put in reps yeah I think um just getting comfortable with the ball in my hands um coach SH really trusted me with that um right away and you know I had to go through some mistakes um some trials and tribulations and just figure it out um but coach SH never went away from me never stopped trusting me and I think that that’s kind of what helped it just really get me comfortable throughout the year and get really efficient uh Michelle Montine WFAA this one’s for Nico um obviously a great draft but there was a consensus number one in this one how does having Cooper change the trajectory of the franchise and then for Jason um what’s the best part of getting to coach a player like this who’s just 18 years old so Michelle I think I think how it changes the trajectory uh you know we’re in win now mode and so he adds to that um but he’s also the future of the franchise so I think you get you get two in one sort to speak so um it’s it’s you know perfect storm for us to be able to coach um the number one pick i think we’re all blessed and excited um and so um to have the opportunity to coach a young man like this um is exciting and uh going to the drawing board as I said trying to get him to be uncomfortable quickly um to see how he handles it and that’s you know hopefully running the point guard for us um and putting him in different situations but um I’m excited um to have someone like this to help us win um Rashad Miller Dallas Weekly um of course you brought up Christian Lightner earlier just talk about him and just the former and current Mavericks that have played at Duke just you know just what they mean to you and also you being part of the new generation with your brothers that you just played with yeah I think um it’s incredible uh obviously starting with Duke you know the the path and I look at that looked at past players and that went into my recruitment obviously watching Tatum and Paulo and Zion and some of those guys that kind of um had the hype and went through it and went to Zuk and were able to develop and uh get to the next level um that was huge for me and I think obviously having you know a bunch of people from the brotherhood you know here Kyrie um Di like that’s just huge connections that can help me to you know be comfortable and have those connections already built sean Giggy WFA uh Cooper you look just to last week you see the Thunder the second youngest team to win an NBA championship pacers also one of the youngest teams in the league you’re about to help some kids with basketball after this you’re arguably closer in age to the kids you’re about to help than many of your teammates how do you think your youth is going to to help a team like this and do you also think they’re what some of the drawbacks are to being so young um I’m not sure how you know my age will play into it but I’m just excited to bring my my game to the table and just you know bring the energy um both sides of the ball and just you know try and impact winning in a lot of different ways um I don’t really know what the hardest part will be um I guess we’ll find out pretty soon
hey Cooper uh Christian Clark here with the Athletic i think you were four years old when Kyrie got drafted five when AD i was just curious i mean do you do you remember anything from those guys college careers like do you have any memories or anything like that
no no no i didn’t watch them in college at all but you know growing up I got to see them you know shine and you know play in the league a lot and those are two guys that I was able to watch a lot of growing up this is a question for Cooper right here so you grew up with a twin brother um I’d like to hear what would you say that your favorite basketball stories with him and how has he pushed you to become the best player that you are today
um I would say you know some of my favorite stories would just be you know competing and playing in the driveway um you know countless times thousands of hours just spent competing playing one-on-one against each other you know I’ll say over half the time it ending in a fist fight um and somebody running inside and you know going going to their room but I think just those memories of you know being kids and just enjoying to compete and play against each other you know during the summer and whatnot outside at our house mike Curtis Dallas Morning News cooper when you look back at your rookie rookie season a year from now what do you hope people say about you um I would say just they would they would talk about how um how I was able to impact the game uh I want to be a really high impact player and just impact winning at a really high level cooper Abby Jones DLL Sports uh Jason K talks about your work ethic and wanting you to be in those uncomfortable situations what are you looking forward to about your first season in the league and maybe the uncomfortable situations he’s kind of talking about how you can grow and expand in your game yeah I think that’s exactly what I would say just learning growing and and getting better through all the challenges and um obstacles that are going to present themselves um just looking forward to um going through the season and learning um but I mean it’s it’s something that coach Sher talked a lot about last year um the obstacle is the way um and not you know hiding from anything um there’s going to be a lot of challenges so just being ready to you know face challenges and and overcome them
ron Murray K104 this right here this question for Coach Kid and Cooper coach Kid you see how the NBA is evolving with different ball handlers not necessarily the pure point guard era so just your thoughts and what you like to see from Cooper going into this and Cooper you know what do you like to do off the court like when it’s not strictly basketball
yeah I think uh being able to have Cooper he can handle the ball as he he’s brought up um and so um as we go forward um this summer and throughout the season is to try to get the ball in his hands as much as possible so they become comfortable uh running our offense um and then when you have multiple guys out there that can dribble and pass it just makes the game simple and easy
cooper over here Lesie McCasslin with Dallas Mavericks i’m curious obviously you didn’t get to watch him play when you were younger but what do you know about your head coach’s playing career if anything it was it was in black and white so definitely didn’t see it no I mean I didn’t get to watch it a ton um I’m going to have to freshen up you know do my research um but I think you know everybody talks about how legendary of a player he was um so I think you know I’ll have to watch some more and figure that out but he was a killer so thank you
a winner a winner a winner thank you
ro Parish CBS Texas cooper over here right this way so talk a little bit more about the brotherhood and your relationship with D Live could you go into that a little bit deeper yeah I think um Derek came back during last year um when we were you know in the preseason part of everything and you know just being being around um he was present we were able to talk to him hang out with him on and off the course so I think it was really cool you know just to meet him and um kind of build a relationship with him he’s a really really cool guy so I’m just excited to continue to build a relationship with him and be able to share the court with him as well nico Harrison New Scrugs here Channel 5 um drafting Cooper Flag obviously fans have been happy they’re buying the jerseys do you think this helps heal part of the your relationship and the fans after everything this past season yeah I think so i think uh I think it I think it will help um most importantly I think it just you know we’re we’re in win now mode and we have a really good team and Cooper adds to that so I think the fans finally start to see the vision um this question is for both Nico and Coach K i’m just curious when did you ever watch or see Cooper play in person and what were just your initial impressions of him well when I first watched him play uh my first impressions were wow it’d be great to have the number one pick uh but no just the way I mean he impacted the game on both sides of the of the ball uh and he played super hard uh and so that was that was my initial um reaction and again you know us not thinking we would have a chance to draft him I didn’t put too much stock into it it was more of a a dream cooper you’ve played at a lot of different areas and environments the toughest competition we’ve seen footage online that you’ve played at Rucker Park the street ball capital of the world in New York what are your thoughts about how well you played there your personal thoughts um I mean I think just competing um you know some of those events sometimes um you get away from you know real basketball and and real competition but I think just being myself competing at a high level and just trying to win cooper uh Brad Townsel from the Dallas Morning News again uh I’m I’m sure in the last 48 hours there’s been a lot of wow moments i’m I really am a pro walking across the stage uh I wondered about it looked like you had pretty good accommodations on your flight here and I was wondering if you could describe that and your impressions of uh Patrick Deont um yeah i mean it’s been incredible like you said it’s been really shocking um you know a surreal feeling still um just being here you know being in these moments but I think um it’s been incredible and I think you know being able to meet uh Patrick and his family was incredible um they have an incredible family so I’m just looking forward to you know continuing to build a relationship with them
dorothy Gentry IM Messenger Media right down here again Cooper um two more fun questions for you what’s on your playlist what kind of music do you listen to one and then three things that you cannot live without um as far as music goes I’m not huge into music um never on the ax so it’s whatever you know whoever I’m with my teammates whatever they want to listen to I’ll listen to whatever um and three things I can’t live without i would say golf um basketball and my family
just two more questions over here
yeah jonah Javad WFAA um actually a two-parter now that you bring up golf one what’s your handicap and are you looking forward to playing to the with the two guys next to you and two what have you known about Texas and maybe the DFW area whether it’s from talking to Dive or Kyrie or your high school teammate Liam McNeely who’s from Richardson
yeah so I think I’m around a 13 14 handicap um and I’m looking forward to playing them as long as they’ll give me some strokes um so that is part of that and then I would say um as far as the area you know obviously like you said my my old teammate Liam um you know is from this area and I was able to visit him a little bit and I’ve been been through the area a little bit but it’s an incredible area it’s really beautiful i’m excited to learn the city a little bit more
cooper here in the back 33 Sports Daniel Stev jonah kind of took the uh the thunder with the the golf question but I’m curious you are in Dallas Scotty Sheffller Wills Alator Bryson Dshambo perhaps if you get a chance to play with them maybe you can take these guys sitting next to you you planning on playing with some of the uh big stars in golf
um I don’t know if I’m good enough for that um but that would that would be an incredible experience for sure all right thank you everyone for joining us um one more thing we’re going to do pictures good job everybody look straight and look left would you look left
yes i’m a point guard good [Applause] [Music] nba [Applause]

Watch as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Cooper Flagg, is introduced for the first time as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.
#espn #nba

☑️ Subscribe to ESPN+: https://plus.espn.com/​​​​​
📱Get the ESPN App: http://www.espn.com/espn/apps/espn​​​​​
🏀 Subscribe to NBA on ESPN on YouTube: http://bit.ly/2yxs3Og​​​​​
☑️Subscribe to ESPN on YouTube: http://es.pn/SUBSCRIBEtoYOUTUBE​​​​​
☑️Watch ESPN on YouTube TV: http://es.pn/YouTubeTV​​