Description

Cooper Flagg's path to the NBA started far from the sport's usual pipelines, in the small town of Newport, Maine. He won the state's Gatorade Player of the Year award as a freshman at Nokomis Regional High School, then, with his family and twin brother Ace, made the leap that changed the trajectory of his career: a transfer to basketball powerhouse Montverde Academy in Florida. He reclassified from the 2025 class to 2024, effectively skipping a grade, and left home 1,500 miles behind to chase a level of competition Maine couldn't offer. It worked. He became the consensus No. 1 recruit in the country and closed out his high school career by winning a national championship with Montverde. At Duke, the hype only intensified, and Flagg delivered on it as a true one-and-done freshman. He was a consensus All-American and won multiple national player of the year honors, including the Wooden Award and the Naismith Award, averaging 19.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals while leading the Blue Devils to a 35-4 record and a Final Four appearance. His college season ended in disappointment short of a title, but it was enough to make him the unquestioned top prospect in the 2025 draft class. The path to Dallas involved a stroke of lottery luck layered on top of organizational upheaval. The Mavericks held the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, their second top pick in franchise history, and it was the first time they'd jumped up in the NBA Draft Lottery since it was established in 1985, doing it on a 1.8% chance, jumping up from 11th. That lottery win came only months after the franchise had stunned its own fanbase by trading away Luka Dončić, and Flagg was thrust immediately into the role of Dallas's new centerpiece. His rookie season was a mix of individual brilliance and team struggle. The Mavericks collapsed to a 26-56 record amid injuries to Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, but Flagg was the roster's one consistent bright spot, leading Dallas in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Despite the steady slide in the standings, Flagg kept making history, capped by a 96-point outburst in two games over the second-to-last weekend, including 51 against Orlando that made him the first NBA teenager to score at least 50 in a game, breaking his own prior record of 49. He finished his rookie season averaging 21.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 70 games. His season ended early on an ankle sprain in the finale, but not before the accolades arrived: Flagg went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award following the conclusion of the season. This card, from Topps Season Tip Off, captures Flagg at card number 201 as a rookie in a Mavericks uniform, released in the same season he validated every bit of the hype that followed him from Maine to Montverde to Duke to the top of the draft.