Brian Windhorst, ESPN’s resident NBA guru, actually put pen to paper this week, dropping a column titled “Why Cooper Flagg’s ascension is starting to feel inevitable.” Now, if you know Windy, you know he spends way more time behind a microphone or in front of a camera these days, so the fact he *wrote* about Flagg’s development tells you everything you need to know: this is a big deal, league-wide.
Windy Thinks We’re Sleeping on Flagg
Windhorst’s whole angle is that the NBA media ecosystem has been seriously slow to recognize Flagg’s rapid rise. He didn’t just hint at it; he basically said Flagg is ready to “take the NBA by storm” in his second year. He’s been beating this drum for a minute, too. Back on September 25th, on ESPN’s NBA Today, Windy was already fired up, saying, “I feel like there’s not enough hype around Cooper Flagg.” And honestly, he’s got a point. Between Victor Wembanyama’s insane leap last year, all the tanking talk for the 2026 Draft (which, let’s be real, the Mavs became a part of), it feels like Flagg’s breathtaking rookie season flew under the radar for a lot of people.
The LeBron Rookie Comparison: For Real?
You gotta sit up and listen when Windhorst starts throwing around comparisons like this. He explicitly said Flagg “absolutely reminded me, on an almost nightly basis, of LeBron as a rookie.” Think about it: LeBron was forced into playing point guard as a rookie, and that kinda threw him off his game a bit. Windy sees the same thing with Flagg last year. But here’s the kicker: Flagg’s ability, for someone his size, to play multiple positions, grab a rebound and immediately kickstart the offense, and guard anyone on the court is just wild. Plus, his shot? Way better than Windhorst expected, and he thinks it’s only gonna get sharper. Windy couldn’t be higher on the guy, truly believing Flagg will crack the top-10 players in the league “sooner rather than later,” with a trajectory right up there with Wembanyama for the future of the NBA. That’s not just hype; that’s a statement.
Why the Silence Around a Potential Star?
So, if Flagg is *that* good, why isn’t everyone screaming about him? Windhorst points out some hard truths. A lot of the league’s big-name star power has been shipped out East. And the Mavericks, as a franchise, are still busy digging themselves out of a mountain of their own mistakes. Honestly, as they’re currently built, they just aren’t all that attractive to a national television audience. All of that puts a serious downward pressure on Flagg’s media attention, which is a shame, because if Windy is right, we’re all missing out on witnessing something special right now.
The season is just getting going, but all eyes should be on Cooper Flagg. With that kind of praise from Brian Windhorst, you know the stakes are sky-high. Can Flagg actually deliver on that “LeBron as a rookie” potential and force the league to finally wake up? We’re about to find out.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Mavs Moneyball.
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