Cooper Flagg has left quite an impression on the NBA community with his performance against the team USA, who will participate in the Paris Olympics. The 17-year-old managed to impress Jayson Tatum as well, who recently heaped praise on the youngster. However, Jeff Teague is slightly worried about his future for a peculiar reason. On the recent episode of Club 520 Podcast, Teague said that Flagg committing to Duke might end up hurting his future.
Advertisement
Before expressing his concern about Flagg’s future, Teague said that the Maine native highly impressed him and believes that he might have a really bright future ahead. The 2021 NBA Champion said that there are so many indicators of Flagg’s potential future in the league. He said,
“You can tell when somebody’s just special. He got a twin brother or something, he don’t look like him. He’s not as tall as him, jump like him…he’s like 6’7, Cooper Flagg’s like 6’10.”
Despite all these positive attributes, Teague is worried that Flagg might end up hurting himself in the one year that he is going to play for Duke, which will be disastrous for his NBA career. He said that the rule that bounds the players to commit to at least one year of college will have an adverse effect on Flagg because a lot can happen in a year, especially some serious injury. He said,
“He’s supposed to go straight out of high school. We really just holding them back like that one year at Duke ain’t gonna do nothing but hurt him.”
Teague said that he’s hoping that Flagg comes out of college, ready to be a pro ball player but there’s always a chance of getting injured while playing at the collegiate level. The panel agreed that Flagg could become an NBA player based on what they saw during the scrimmage with Team USA. The fact that the 17-year-old made Jayson Tatum sing praise for him after the scrimmage speaks to the impact he has made there.
Jayson Tatum thinks Cooper Flagg is superstar material
During a recent appearance on 7PM in Brooklyn podcast with Carmelo Anthony, Tatum was all praise for the Duke star. He said that even at such a young age he was going toe to toe with the NBA professionals. The 2024 NBA Champion also said that Flagg is exactly how some of the current NBA stars were at his age and that he is sure he will have to play with or against the 17-year-old in a few years, which is an incredible sign for a budding hooper. He said,
“I mean, he’s a hell of a player… It’s clear as daylight, we going to be playing against him in a few years, and he’s on the right path to be, you know, the guys that he probably look up to.”
By now, it’s fair to say that unanimous praise is coming Flagg’s way from some of the biggest names in the sport.
