“Get the f*** outta here, no way”: Cooper Flagg at age 14 turned a whole gym silent in disbelief, reveals former Celtics champ
Duke's Cooper Flagg has been dominating basketball discourse online. Since his middle school days, he has impressed fans with his size, skill and maturity well beyond his years.
In an episode of the "Games with Names" podcast released on Tuesday, NBA champion and Celtics legend Brian Scalabrine recounted a story from Flagg's high school days.
Scalabrine, now an NBA analyst for Boston, discussed an incident where Cooper Flagg stunned a whole gym after making a remarkable play.
"I know a guy up in Maine and he trains Cooper. He was telling me these stories about this, at the time 13-year-old, playing against the [University of] Maine guys, and he would start to dominate," Scalabrine said.
"And I'm like, 'Man, get the f**k outta here, no way a 13-year-old is better than D-1 players. Send him down, if he can live here, he'll be fine.' ... I'm always talking s**t, so I'm like, 'I got somebody for you today, man. This guy's going to come in and whoop your a** .' 14-year-old."'
Scalabrine said it only took one possession for Flagg to leave a mark.
"First possession, he goes to the right and he pumps. He throws it off backboard, goes up with the left and dunks. The gym was silent. So I call USA basketball the next day, Duke the next day, 'I'm telling you, guys, this guy's nasty.'"
Watch Scalabrine's story below:
Cooper Flagg makes AP All-American preseason team
Cooper Flagg, the projected top pick of the 2025 NBA draft, was named to the AP preseason All-American team on Monday.
He joined other top players like last season's ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis, Alabama's Mark Sears and Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson.
The 6-foot-9 forward received 24 votes out of a 55-person AP panel, tying with Arizona’s Caleb Love for the final spot.
Flagg played high school basketball at Nokomis Regional in Newport, Maine, before joining Montverde Academy in Florida. Initially among the top prospects in the 2025 class, he reclassified to 2024 and became the top recruit in the country.
The expectations are high for him as he starts his first year with the Blue Devils this coming season.
Cooper Flagg averaged 16.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists as a high school senior, earning him the National Gatorade Men's Player of the Year.