ESPN’s Marc Spears rips NBA for lack of Cooper Flagg hype

Cooper Flagg may have been the talk of the NBA when he came out of college and was taken No. 1 overall by the Mavericks in June’s draft, but since then, things have been very quiet about the Duke product and NBA analyst Marc Spears wanted to know why. 

Spears questioned where the hype has been for Flagg with the season rapidly approaching during Monday’s edition of “NBA Today.” 

“Why is it so quiet about this guy?” Spears asked. “Where is the choo choo, the Cooper Flagg train. I don’t get it. NBA, what are you doing? Why aren’t you promoting this guy? Last year, I saw him working out in Vegas and he was on a select team with Brandon Miller and Trey Murphy and Jalen Suggs…and one of the coaches told me he’s the best player on the roster. 

“I mean, he was 17 years old at the time. He doesn’t even turn 19 until around Christmas. Get on the train, this dude is going to be a star. He should be in all the promotions, I don’t see him.” 

Spears had one final thought on Flagg before he wrapped up his thought. 

“Don’t sleep on this kid,” he said.

Flagg is coming off a monster year at Duke – his only season with the program – where he averaged 19.2 points per game on 48.1 percent shooting from the field and 38.5 percent shooting from 3-point range. 

He finished his freshman year winning AP Player of the Year, the Naismith Award and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Player of the Year. 

All of that led to Flagg being picked first overall by the Mavericks. 

Flagg appeared in his first preseason game on Monday night against the Thunder. 

The 18-year-old had 10 points in 14 minutes on the floor, shooting 3-for-6 from the field and hitting two of his three shots from 3-point range.