During an interview with NBA reporter Malika Andrews of ESPN, Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg spoke about how great a mentor Kyrie Irving has been to him.
Irving isn’t playing this season because of the ACL injury he suffered last season, but the 2016 NBA champion has been helping Flagg, who told Andrews that Irving reached out to him earlier in the season out of the blue.
“I was driving home and he had texted me,” Cooper Flagg said about Kyrie Irving. “He was like, ‘Yo, just give me a call.’ He was like, ‘Listen, I understand. I’ve kind of been through this before. I don’t think there are a lot of people around you right now who can tell you they’ve been through something similar.’ He was that top pick and was kind of thrown into the fire.
“So he just stepped in as a great vet for me and was there giving me guidance because there were definitely times where I was shaken up. I’d never lost that much in my life. But just to hear him say that and tell me that I’m doing everything I need to be doing and just to stay with it and stay positive, it definitely helped me out a lot.”
The Mavericks are only 23-46. They are in 13th place in the Western Conference standings and will miss the playoffs and NBA play-in tournament.
Flagg is putting up stellar numbers despite Dallas’ putrid season. The first pick in the 2025 NBA Draft is averaging 20.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.
The Mavericks traded Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards at the February NBA trade deadline but chose to keep Irving, who averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game last season in 50 appearances. Dallas didn’t want to trade Irving because the franchise believes Flagg needs to play with an elite point guard to develop the right way, sources told DallasHoopsJournal.
Irving and Flagg will make their debut as a duo next season. Mavericks fans certainly can’t wait for the former Duke stars to play together.
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