Allen Iverson Reveals Advice to Cooper Flagg for Rookie NBA Season with Mavs

If Cooper Flagg is looking for help navigating his way through his rookie season, Hall of Famer Allen Iverson is ready with some words of wisdom learned during his storied career.

Speaking to TMZ Sports, Iverson's main piece of advice was for Flagg to take things "one day at a time" before providing what he called the "most important thing" he had to offer.

"The most important thing, and I think this will take care of everything, is playing every game like it's your last, you know?" Iverson said. "You do that and everything else takes care of itself."

Even during the infamous practice press conference in 2002, Iverson used the similar wording to talk about his approach to playing at the highest level:

"We sitting in here—I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talking about practice. I mean, listen: We talking about practice. Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. We talking about practice. Not a game. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last. Not the game. We talking about practice, man."

That constant hard-effort approach served Iverson extremely well throughout his career, including as a rookie in 1996-97. He was named Rookie of the Year and finished 17th in MVP voting after averaging 23.5 points and 7.5 assists per game for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Flagg's first game with the Dallas Mavericks had some ups and downs. He finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, but made just four of his 13 shot attempts in 32 minutes in a 125-92 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

Things will improve for Flagg over time. As much hype as there was around him as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft, he's still the youngest player in the NBA this season. He won't turn 19 until Dec. 21.