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How have Cooper Flagg's training sessions gone this summer? MacKenzie (Flagg trainer): "This past week was great. It's always nice to visit Durham and be able to see everybody at Duke where he went to school. He spent the entire summer going to different spots around the country. He spent a week in Maine. He spent a few weeks in LA. He spent a lot of time in Dallas with getting acclimated to the new coaching staff and some of his future teammates. He's learning a little bit about what they're all about. So it's been a really good offseason. But it's always fun when we can go back to Durham and be at Duke. It's such a special place. It's been a great week of training. The energy in the gym has been fantastic. Cooper is looking really good physically and mentally. His overall game has really continued to improve. He's able to refine some little things over the course of the last several months. So I'm really excited for what's to come in year two."
What are the little things that Cooper Flagg's refining? MacKenzie: "A lot of it is micro details, such as his ball control, his ability to get to certain spots on the floor and playing off of different bump finishes, finding space and being comfortable with continuing to use that 3-point line as a weapon. He's taking not only 3s off the catch, but also 3s off the dribble. He's using a variety of different screens and actions to get him into different shots. But overall, we all know that he's an incredibly versatile player. So it's really about dialing in and being able to help him maximize the entirety of that skillset. It's about being more comfortable with knowing where he wants to get to and then living with the results throughout different sessions."
They've technically been teammates. But this will be the first time that Cooper and Kyrie will be playing together once he returns. How do you see that fit overall, given both players' skillsets and the work that Coop has put in this offseason? MacKenzie: "We're all really optimistic about that. Kyrie and Cooper have had an opportunity to spend a little time together this offseason. Obviously, they are two very high-IQ basketball players. I think they complement each other really well. I know that Kyrie has a ton of respect for the player that Cooper is. Just like Coach May, he wants to continue to help Cooper take that next step in his career. I think that there are very positive things to look forward to, hopefully with the on-court chemistry with those two. Cooper was able to spend quite a bit of time last season with Kyrie. Although Kyrie wasn't able to play, he was able to be somewhat of a mentor off the court, on the bench and around the practice facility. Obviously, we've all been excited to see what that chemistry will look like on the floor. They've had a chance to spend some time together on the court and in workouts when they've played pickup a little bit. I think they really enjoyed playing with each other. I think we're going to be able to see that joy come October and November."
“We'll have to wait and see how they all come together, obviously, with the new coach, with a new system, and a new coach. How is he going to transition? I've heard great things about him; about his leadership, about his work ethic, about how he approaches and talks to the guys. I think he'll be loved by the players,” Nowitzki said. “But it'll be interesting to see. What kind of plays is he running? What kind of system is he establishing — how does he want to play? But the big thing is, obviously, Kyrie coming back after a whole year off. “I've seen some clips on social media in the last few weeks. He looks great. He looks shifty. He still looks explosive. To see Kyrie with Coop sharing the court will be super, super exciting. He kept some veterans around. He got some new players. You need to have Lively healthy, obviously; that's a big key. But I think they got some nice pieces. If they execute well with Kyrie and Coop on the court, that could be a dangerous combo.”
Bamba has now gone from interested spectator to collector to card shop owner. Mo Bamba Sports Cards & Collectibles will open Friday in north Austin, near the University of Texas, where Bamba played for one year before becoming the No. 6 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. After years of professional athletes’ involvement in the sports card space being limited to posing for the pictures on the cards, signing autographs and making convention appearances after retirement, many are now taking a far greater interest in it. For a growing number, that interest is leading to investment in brick-and-mortar operations. As Bamba will open his own trading card shop Friday, hobby darling Cooper Flagg, last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year, will crack the doors to a trading card shop called Flagg Trading Co. in his hometown of Bangor, Maine, on Saturday.
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Tom Brady has become the most notable athlete to branch out into the trading card space. CardVault by Tom Brady, of which he is a co-owner, has 17 locations across the country — and aims to reach 100-plus — and has become a hit within the sports and entertainment world. Brady has corralled new investors such as New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, musician and entrepreneur Jay-Z, Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry, The Kraft Group, Boston Celtics CEO Wyc Grousbeck and UFC president and CEO Dana White. “You know, at the end of the day, it’s the industry, but we love sports,” Brady said. “And we love sports that bring people together, communities together. We’ve been sitting in stadiums for a long time watching fans of every economic background, race, religion, come to the stadiums to cheer us on. And I think sports in our communities, it brings people together in ways nothing else can. I want everybody to be a collector.”
Similarly, whatever you think of Cuban’s stewardship of the Mavericks during his tenure, we can all agree he would not have green-lit the trade of Luka Doncic to the Lakers as Patrick Dumont did. It took a Cooper Flagg lottery mulligan to begin to stanch the civic bleed that occurred among Mavericks fans after Dončiċ’s departure. I will never not believe that the team’s new owners simply decided they weren’t going to pay Dončić the $350 million extension for which he was eligible and, thus, were quite amenable when told by then-general manager Nico Harrison that he wanted to move on from the young star.
Three of the most significant basketball cards of the current era, including the one-of-a-kind Cooper Flagg Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card, will be auctioned off through Fanatics Collect next month, the company announced Friday. Alongside the Flagg, Debut Patch cards for San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper and Charlotte Hornets sharpshooter Kon Knueppel will also sell as part of the platform’s September Premier auction, which runs Sept. 10-24.
Each autographed card, which also contains a patch created by Fanatics that was worn during their first NBA regular season appearance, is widely considered to be the best card in existence for each athlete featured. Flagg’s Debut Patch, which has been the target of dozens of bounties, including offers from the Dallas Mavericks and multi-million dollar cash offers from individual collectors, is widely expected to challenge the highest known sale for an ultra-modern (2017-present) basketball card. The current high is the $5.1 million paid in a private deal for the one-of-one 2023-24 Prizm Black parallel Victor Wembanyama rookie card in May.
2028 Draft: It's not out of the question that Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje can reach the level of predecessors Cooper Flagg or Cameron Boozer in terms of college impact. Some scouts view him as that caliber of talent, although he will arrive at Duke a year earlier and can't be held to the same standard right away. The dearth of elite bigs coming up through the domestic ranks makes Boumtje-Boumtje's arrival all the more notable -- not just for the future of the NBA, but quite possibly for USA Basketball, which will have to contend with Victor Wembanyama over the next decade-plus. Boumtje-Boumtje looks like the clear front-runner for No. 1 two years from now. How he adjusts to college at 17 years old will be fascinating, but expect him to be a quick study.
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DLLS Mavs: Mavericks star Cooper Flagg says he’s been in the gym with Kyrie Irving this summer! 😤 “Been able to get in the gym with Kyrie this offseason….Kyrie is obviously one of the greats so just to be able to learn from him on the fly.” #MFFL
The proud owner of Dallas Mavericks star Cooper Flagg's 1-of-1 numbered rookie debut patch autograph card has come forward. Fifty-year-old Jason Williams of South Carolina acquired the card after spending $515 to purchase a spot on the stream of RhodyBreakers, a division of the Baseball Cards of Rhode Island retail shop that opens boxes of trading cards on a livestream for clients. On Monday night, Williams had the stream up on a big screen as his wife and son were getting ready for bed. "They slid that card over and I just slid to the floor crying," Williams told ESPN on Friday. "... It took me about five seconds to realize what I was looking at on that screen."
A machine shop owner and father of five who lives in Clover, Williams has been collecting cards on and off since he was 12 years old. Prior to this, his most valuable card pull was a card of Barcelona and Spain star Lamine Yamal that he sold for $4,500 -- although, he said, a year later he saw it for upward of $70,000 at auction. Williams' Flagg card will almost certainly be worth significantly more. A similar card featuring Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes fetched $1.1 million last year. The Mavericks have offered a bounty to the winner that includes season tickets for 32 years, a signed game-worn Flagg jersey and a photograph with the star. Williams says he has not yet decided what to do with the card. "It's in a safe place for right now," Williams told ESPN on Friday. "I'm just sort of trying to lay low."
As a passionate card collector, Williams is aware of the enormity of his find, but he's still coming to terms with it. "Who would have thought?" Williams said. "It still hasn't really sunk in. I know what I got, but I dunno, it's surreal."
