Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Klay Reveal Advice for Cooper Flagg's Rookie Season
Amid his rookie season with the Dallas Mavericks, 2025 No. 1 overall draft pick Cooper Flagg is receiving valuable advice from a trio of teammates who are all likely to be Hall of Famers in the future.
While No. 1 overall picks often land with teams that are short on talent and veteran leadership, that isn't the case for Flagg, as he has the opportunity to play alongside Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson.
ESPN's Tim MacMahon spoke to the veteran triumvirate about Flagg, and while they all had unique perspectives, the common theme among their responses was that they don't want Flagg to worry about the pressure that comes along with being the top pick in the draft.
Davis, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, called for Flagg to allow the veterans to handle the pressure while he develops into a quality NBA player.
"We want him to be confident but don't worry about the pressure," Davis said. "I'll handle the pressure. [Head coach Jason ]Kidd will handle the pressure. When Kyrie comes back, he'll handle the pressure. We want him to go out here and just play basketball. He'll have pressure three, four or five years from now when we all probably going to be out [of] the league.
"He's going to be great, but we want him to develop. We don't want to rush him or anything. But also he knows he wants to win, and we know we want to win."
Irving was also a No. 1 overall pick in 2011, and like Davis, he is a multi-time All-Star and an NBA champion.
While Kyrie has not played yet this season as he continues to recover from a torn ACL suffered last season, he offered some similar sentiments to AD when speaking to MacMahon during the preseason.
"The first thing you tell him is to have fun and enjoy yourself," Irving said. "The work is just getting started, but it is pretty unique in terms of the situation he's in. But being a No. 1 pick is still going to come with the pressure, still going to come with a lot of the inner thoughts that you want to impose on the team. You want to let everybody know who you are, and you want to earn everybody's respect. And that's what it takes to be in this league. There's no boys allowed.
"For me, it's just making sure he doesn't get overwhelmed or it's not too much for him."
Thompson was not a No. 1 overall pick, but he did go 11th overall to the Golden State Warriors in 2011, and he was a key part of four NBA championship teams, while establishing himself as one of the greatest three-point shooters of all time.
The 35-year-old noted that he suggested to Flagg that he is essentially playing with house money during his first season, saying, "Usually with a lot of No. 1 picks, you go and you got to save a franchise. I just told him, 'Your rookie year is like a free shot. You don't need to have any expectations.'"
Flagg is no stranger to pressure and expectations, as he arrived at Duke as the No. 1 overall recruit in the nation. He was every bit as good as anyone could have envisioned too, winning National College Player of the Year honors during his one and only season at Duke.
With the Mavs, it is fair to say that a significant portion of the fanbase may be expecting him to essentially replace Luka Dončić, who was shockingly traded to the Los Angeles Lakers last season for a package headlined by Davis.
Over his six full seasons in Dallas, Dončić was a five-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA selection and one-time scoring champion, plus he led the Mavs to the NBA Finals once.
Flagg is an entirely different player than Dončić, and he has experienced an up-and-down start to his career through only five games.
He is averaging 13.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists, while shooting 41.0 percent from the field for a Mavs team that is 2-3.
Neither Flagg nor the Mavericks as a whole have performed at the level most hoped for or expected yet, but Flagg is just getting his feet wet in the NBA and will have plenty of opportunities to take some big leaps forward.
