In a few weeks, Cooper Flagg will join an exclusive fraternity when he is selected first overall in the NBA Draft. At the age of a senior in high school, the Maine native dominated college basketball, becoming just the fourth freshman to hoist the Naismith Player of the Year trophy.
Flagg has vaulted into becoming the most hyped-up domestic product since LeBron James, and his arrival in Dallas has somehow dramatically lessened the blowback of the franchise inexplicably trading Luka Doncic a few months ago.
With Flagg’s unique two-way versatility and freaky athletics, it’s challenging to envision a pro comparison at the next level, but one veteran journalist drew a comparison so baffling it’ll have plenty of basketball fans rolling their eyes.
While appearing on the “Bill Simmons Podcast,” former ESPN writer Chuck Klosterman made a staggering assessment of Flagg’s NBA potential.
“I think he’s going to have a career like Detlef Schrempf,” Klosterman said. “I think he’s going to be a very good player for a lot of years, but I don’t see him as a dominating player. I think that he’ll be the second-best player on a good team or the third-best player on a great team. Nothing I saw made me think he’s going to be unstoppable.”
This entire rant felt insulting to my intelligence. Schrempf was a fun player who was one of the better wings of the mid-90s but was a score-first sniper who was limited defensively.
The idea that Flagg isn’t a dominant force contradicts his personal trophy case and nearly every basketball analyst’s eye test.
Klosterman is entitled to his own opinion, but this take comes off as lazy and uneducated.
By the time he can legally drink in the US, Flagg will likely have a higher peak than Schrempf. Book it.
