Watch: Cooper Flagg dazzles as he beats Jrue Holiday and sinks 3 over Anthony Davis in spectacular fashion
Cooper Flagg became the first college player to be part of the Select Team since 2013 and dominated the floor like no other. The early favorite for the No.1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft went head-to-head against the Team USA roster aligned for the 2024 Paris Olympics and was the best player on his crew.
Perhaps his most notable sequence came when Flagg was being picked on at half-court by Jrue Holiday and managed to lose the 2024 NBA champion within seconds. He then glided to the opposing wing to smoothly net a hesi 3-pointer over Anthony Davis.
In the succeeding seconds, Flagg helped alter a touchdown pass to Davis to protect an easy bucket. Additionally, he ran the open court to convert his teammate's miss by leaping over Bam Adebayo for a putback. That makes it three high-caliber defensive anchors in under a minute.
Interestingly, Cooper Flagg has scored zero collegiate-level points as he is yet to lace up for his debut college game. This makes him the least experienced player to ever face the national team roster. Marcus Smart was a season in and Doug McDermott had an experience of 110 games when they were invited in 2013.
Team USA will now head to their pre-Olympic fixtures starting from July 11. They will face Canada, Serbia, Australia, South Sudan and Germany before entering the global sporting event on July 28. On the other hand, Flagg will join Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils for the 2024-25 season.
Cooper Flagg settles his GOAT debate
In an interview with SLAM, Cooper Flagg was asked about his favorite from the evergreen LeBron James versus Michael Jordan GOAT debate.
Without any hesitation, Flagg claimed that Jordan was the Greatest of All Time. Moreover, the 6-foot-9 wing labeled Seattle Storm’s Sue Bird as the WNBA player of all time, while citing Kawhi Leonard as the best defensive player of all time.
Moreover, Flagg turned away from the Kevin Durant-infused Golden State Warriors, the Miami "Heatles", Shaq and Kobe’s LA Lakers or the 1996 Chicago Bulls. Instead, he labeled Larry Bird’s 1985-86 Boston Celtics to be the best team in NBA history.