Top-rated prospect in the 2025 NBA Draft, Cooper Flagg, plays at 100% against any competition. That doesn’t change with family involved. Basketball runs in the Flagg bloodline, prominently with his mother, Kelly. The two used to play 1-on-1 constantly, but that all changed one day. Kelly realized that her time guarding Cooper may have passed.
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Cooper Flagg’s decision to declare for the NBA Draft put an end to an amazing college career. He received countless awards for his dominant freshman season. But still fails to live up to his mother’s decorated NCAA career.
Kelly Flagg was born and raised in Maine and quickly became a star in basketball. She attended the University of Maine and led the Bears to four NCAA Tournament appearances in just as many seasons. In the 1999 Women’s NCAA Tournament, she helped lead Maine to an iconic upset victory over No. 7 Stanford.
However, she didn’t experience the same individual success as her son. Kelly only averaged 4.6 points and 2.7 rebounds throughout 46 games. Despite her college career eventually ending, playing basketball remained in her daily life. Until her son took that away.
In an interview with CBS Sports, Kelly spoke about Cooper’s love for the game starting at a young age. She encouraged her son to pursue basketball, but never took it easy on him. One day, that came back to bite her and her meniscus in an unfortunate way.
“We used to have some battles in the driveway, and he has never beat me,” Kelly said. “We were playing in the driveway, our last game ever. I did an up fake, and I felt something in my knee. I tore my meniscus.”
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Before that game, Cooper had never beaten his mother in a 1-on-1 matchup. Since she was bigger than him, she would back him down in the post until she could finish with a layup. While trailing, he had the opportunity to close the gap to a single point, but unfortunately suffered an untimely injury. As a result, the game didn’t finish, and technically, she remains undefeated.
Now she has the privilege of witnessing her son dominate against others on basketball’s biggest stage. Cooper recently led the Duke Blue Devils to a Final Four appearance, but ultimately fell short just like his matchups against his mom.
