Cooper Flag continued the legacy that Zion Williamson left at Duke University.
With the 2025 NBA Draft approaching, there is a lot of hype surrounding the Cooper Flag. The Dallas Mavericks miraculously won the first overall pick in the draft lottery.
Now they’ll probably choose Flag as their next franchise superstar. His first year at Duke ended with a broken heart as he missed the chance to compete for the NCAA National Championship.
However, there was obvious excitement to see how Flaggu, which stood out during his year at Duke, adapted to the NBA.
Well, he achieved something in his only year in college basketball. This is what Duke alumni Zion Williamson did alongside a few other NBA players.
Read more: The Dallas Mavericks warned that another draft prospect is better than Cooper Flag.
Earlier this year, Cooper Flag was awarded the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Men’s Basketball Rookie of the Year Award.
In addition to that, he was named ACC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. He is one of only four players who won both awards in the same season.
The final players to win the award were Zion Williamson in 2019, Marvin Bagley III in 2018, and Jahlil Okafor in 2015.
Interestingly, all four players won awards while playing for the Duke Blue Devils. No other player, other than Duke, has won both awards in the same year.
Read more: Cooper Flag with Elite Company and Anthony Davis, three freshmen from the past 15 years have reached a rare feat
Of all these players, it’s hard to say that any of them had a tangible, long-term impact in the NBA.
The closest is Zion Williamson, who, as previously advertised, is still electrified in court when he is not plagued by health concerns.
Cooper Flag hopes that his career trajectory will be far better than the other players listed above. He has a chance to become the next great NBA superstar.
But these are also a matter of luck. Flag can do everything right and sometimes something goes wrong. But these issues are for the future, and for now, Flag is living to its best.
