Cooper Flagg’s college basketball dominance at 17 comparable only to that of Shaquille O’Neal, as per analyst: “Have to go back all the way to 1989”
Cooper Flagg, a 17-year-old phenom, has been gathering praise since his high school days. The hype around is surreal and people are debating if there were any players in the last decade who showed similar dominance at such a young age.
Flagg has been compared to players like Anthony Davis and Zion Willamson who also had a lot of hype in high school. Recently, Jonathan Givony, an NBA analyst even claimed that Flagg's dominance can only be compared to young Shaquille O’Neal. In a clip posted on X on Oct. 29, Givony said:
"Fans should expect fireworks every time that he steps on the court. Dunks, blocks, threes, assists. The way he impacts winning at the highest level is special," Givony said.
"At the same time, a 17-year-old does not dominate college basketball in this era. He isn't even eligible to vote in next week's presidential elections," he continued. "You have to go back all the way to 1989 to Shaquille O'Neal to find a 17-year-old who dominated college basketball."
Givony, the founder of DraftExpress, a media outlet with special focus on the NBA Draft, also said that the Maine native might even be better than another NBA icon, Tim Duncan, at his age.
"Even Tim Duncan didn't do that as a 17-year-old at Wake Forest. So I'm expecting Cooper Flagg to have a tremendous season," he added. "But there's going to be ups and downs, just like any 17-year-old playing at this level of competition."
Duke assistant coach speaks on Cooper Flagg's comparison to Zion
Zion Williamson, in his freshman season at Duke, was a once-in-a-generation talent, who left his mark on college basketball with a dominant display. He averaged 22.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
Fans are expecting Cooper Flagg to have a similar impact with the Blue Devils. However, Duke's associate coach Jai Lucas cautioned that it would be unfair to compare the two, given their different playing styles.
"The one thing to remember is he's still 17, so it's still a lot of stuff that's going to come with 17, he is going to struggle this year, Lucas said [via CBS Sports].
"It's not going to be a perfect year. He's going to be really good, but he also is going to have some struggles just because of age … and he's not Zion, where he's just physically imposing."
Cooper Flagg, a projected top pick in the NBA draft, is among a few players this decade who will be walking onto a college as a nationally recognized talent. Kentucky alum Anthony Davis was the last player to generate this level of excitement before his college career began.