Dwight Howard Offers Advice to Cooper Flagg Ahead of 2025 NBA Draft in New Video

Dwight Howard has been in Cooper Flagg's shoes before.

The former center came into the 2004 NBA draft as a highly-touted prospect and was taken No. 1 overall by the Orlando Magic. Howard had lofty expectations, and he fulfilled them, winning three NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards, earning eight All-Star nods and becoming an NBA champion in 2020.

Howard has learned a thing or two over the years, and his message to Flagg was simple ahead of this month's NBA draft.

"Just go hoop, enjoy the games," Howard said, per TMZ. "Don't let the politics take away the passion and have fun."

Howard also shrugged off criticisms of Flagg, saying that he still has plenty of time to grow as a player.

"Obviously, he hasn't even made it into the NBA yet," Howard said. "If he's already good at a lot of things now and he's got a chance to master these things by the time he gets older, he'll be fine. He's only 18, 19. He got a lot of time to grow."

Flagg joined Duke as the top recruit in the Class of 2024, per 247Sports' composite rankings, and he thrived in his sole season with the Blue Devils, putting up 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists on his way to being named the Naismith Men's College Player of the Year, among other awards.

After some speculation that Flagg might return to Duke for another year, he declared for the draft in April. Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman projects Flagg to be the No. 1 overall pick to the Dallas Mavericks later this month.

Flagg has plenty of hype and expectations heading into the draft but he'll look to follow Howard's advice and focus on enjoying his rookie year.