Cooper Flagg, the Dallas Mavericks and one of the most shocking NBA draft lotteries in decades
afternoon On May 12, the Cooper Flagg family gathered inside his room at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in the center of Chicago. There was his twin brother, AS (one -minute age), his father Ralph, and his mother Kelly.
They finished wearing his clothes in the 2025 US League draft of the League, which later began that night at 7 pm local time at the McCromic Place Convention Center, a short distance from their hotel.
But before going out together, the family of Duke star, and the first general choice in the American Professional League draft on Wednesday, spent 30 minutes in his future chat.
They had held these discussions before, as they evaluated all the potential landing sites and what each one presented, but this will be a final extraction before one of the most prominent American horizons in the years knew, later in that night, and finally, it is possible that his career in the American Professional League.
The family knew months ago that Washington, Wizards and Uttah Jazz and Charlotte Hornz had held the highest chances of landing at the best choice, and inside the room, they again went to positives around each one.
Washington was a short journey from Maine and North Carolina – the states where the family divided their time. They said Charlotte offered the same thing, in addition to having a fans base for Duke Alums. Jazzi’s CEO Danny Ang, who played in the eighties of the last century, gave Boston Celkus The difference that Cooper’s parents admired a lot and presented their children at an early age.
It also weighs individual and non -solution negative. Like many of the best possibilities, Flagg never endured a sustainable loss at any level, and regardless of his emerging general performance, he was definitely about to do so. Although he has long maintained that he “just wanted to wander anywhere, those around him say they housed concerns about how to adjust the very competitive possibility with this dynamic.
“It will be difficult for me to imagine that Cooper is going through a season with a lot of loss,” Duke coach John Shayer told Duke coach to ESPN.
Flagg’s father admitted the same. “He – she He was He said: “Something we talked about.”
After a short time, the family went to the conference center, and the FLAGG representation displayed the guidance: the cameras will be on them all night, especially with the announcement of the lottery, and any reaction – good or bad – will lead to elements. It was better, they told Flagg and his family to remain neutral.
Flagg sat in a front -class seat, next to his teammate Duke, Kon Knuepet. Ralph, Kelly, Ace and Flag coach have long sat McKinsey died in the class behind Cooper. In the face of the theater, they all watched the American Professional League Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum, who announces the first 10 options in two minutes and 15 seconds. But even that short window of time was full of amazing.
Washington and Utah fell from the first four places, while Dallas Maverx and San Antonio Spears jumped.
When sitting in their seats, the family tried to keep their composure, while looking at the new capabilities that are revealed.
Flagg imagined, even shortly, a possible pair with 7 feet and 5 Victor and YumanamaThe best choice of Spears in the 2023 draft.
Then, Tatom announced the following choice: Charlotte. This meant that Dallas, San Antonio and Philadelphia 76 were in the first three places. The probability of this was the case, according to ESPN research, only 1 %.
After that, after 12 seconds, Tatom announced that 76ers will choose the third place, and Tottenham will choose the second, which means that Marax, who entered tonight by 1.8 % to win the lottery, won.
MAVERICKS has had the fourth low possibility to win the lottery since 1985; They jumped 10 sites, the largest by any team since the American Professional League changed the lottery format in 2019.
Only a few The minutes, the fully complementary and complete account of the FLAGG family changed, for several months, the outlines and planning them.
The advertisement sent shock waves across the American Professional League. Excellence – The Rule of Fans – is still recovering from the destroyed destroyed star trade Luca Densic It is now developed to formulate another talent in generations in Flagg.
From their seats, the Flagg family was completely amazing.
His father, Ralph, said: “Dallas was not even on our Bango card.”
Textual messages were poured. Are they happy? sad? Why did they not interact? Did they realize what happened just?
Their minds are racing.
Instead of pressing being one of the best players in the losing team, it will be on one, just one year ago, he went to the American Professional League Finals. With any narration or scale, the man who heals the wounds left by the departure of Densic, who, by 25 years of stars and was named in the first team in the American Professional League five times.
Flagg will immediately face different pressure, as a few shots number 1: to help a pair of all stars, at the point Kerry Erfing And forward Anthony DavisWinning in the American Professional League – quickly.
“We have never thought that the impossible could happen on May 12,” said the Marax team source. “I am not sure of a sudden reflection of the wealth.”
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Energy and leadership of Cooper Flag are the great features of Jonathan Geoffone.
John Shayer, from Flagg trail for one season in Duke, watched from his hotel on Amelia Island in Florida, where the ACC Spring meetings were held.
“For me, it is a dream of dreams.” “I really feel this way.”
While Flagg and his family came out of the Conference Center that night, they began to feel the same.
Two Duke players were already in the list, Irfing and the center Dereck Lively IIChoose the first round in the 2023 draft. Shaer Flag shortly told the center Khaman Maluach He lived two of the best people who trained them. Flagg playing alongside Maluach during a student season with Duke. Now he is likely to play with a vital side during his first season in the American Professional League in Dallas. “Enjoy it!” Shaer told him.
Flagg can learn from the players who won the championships, as they believed, such as Irving and Davis, and they hoped, the legend of Dallas Dirk Novitzki retired.
“He will not go to Dallas, believing that he got all the answers,” Sher said. “You will learn from Kerry, he will learn from [Davis]. He will learn from Derek Livley, Jason Kid and his employees. It is coming to learn, and I think this is a special part of it. “
Like many, the Flagg family monitored the huge reaction from the MAVERICKS fans after the DonCic trading suddenly on Los Angeles Lakers Last season. Flags witnessed the burning of Jersey, fake funerals, protests.
For them, it represents the strength – a great bond with the organization, even if it is badly tense.
“They are a very passionate fan base, and I think it is what we understand and what we have seen on social media, it is ready to completely embrace Cooper,” said Ralph.
“Dallas was lucky for many years,” said Shire. “They managed to watch Dirk, Luka – a lot of winning teams. Now, you have a man in Cooper, who I think will carry this tradition forward.”
Its impact on the organization was immediately perceived, first on the final result of the team.
“We have been surprisingly renewed 75-80 % of our season’s tickets,” said the Marax team source. “But we had a lot of work that we had to do in restoring confidence and Rwandum is an unimportant segment of our fans base.
“We sold $ 8 million in the new season’s tickets in the three days that followed the lottery.”
The source said that one company was considering a care partnership with Marax, then, after seeing the lottery and the reaction of the positive fans, and that same company agreed to a new care agreement with the team.
“We have made two new deals of the shepherd, one of the second largest deals in our history, since the lottery has been.”
After the lottery, Flagg wore all over the country, and worked with Mackenzie at the Westlake Village gym, about an hour west of Los Angeles. Flagg traveled to North Carolina to see his brother graduating from high school, then north to Maine to see his former classmates in Nocumis from high school.
The Flagg family has already contains Airbnb that has been booked in Las Vegas to see it during the summer league. While the parties are organized in the Flagg hometown in Nioport, Maine, the family enjoyed a short condolence of the noise and concentration of TV cameras in the village of Witkelik, where Flagg continued to work before returning to New York for the draft.
Recently, the family visited the Hugo Boss store in Los Angeles to be installed Flagg for a suit on the night of the draft. When they saw while specialists working with Flagg, the danger of the moment – and what happened after that, the beginning of the American Professional League trip – settled for those around him. They all looked at each other and did not believe how quickly everything is.
“He is in a goodly good place,” McKenzi said. “He is in a goodly good place, and I think he is ready for this next chapter of his career.”
