VANCOUVER — Cooper Flagg, with beads of sweat dripping from his dark brown hair, gave himself a pep talk shortly after his first official NBA practice.
“Day one in the books!” he said.
Dereck Lively II, once in Flagg’s shoes as the former youngest member of the Dallas Mavericks, yelled from the other side of the gymnasium and encouraged the rookie forward on completing his first day of training camp: “Yeah, Coop!”
Shortly after, Flagg spoke to a group of reporters about his impressions of Tuesday’s practice, held inside West Gym on the campus of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada.
Mavericks
Competition was one of the focal points of the Mavericks’ first practice of the season and Flagg was at the center of it all.
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“I thought the intensity was great,” Flagg said. “I thought we were competing right from the jump in different shell drills and defensive drills. I thought we had a lot of guys just locked in and competing at a high level.”
Playing against NBA competition isn’t new to Flagg. He faced teammate Anthony Davis and several other future Hall of Famers as a member of the U.S. Select Team as a 17-year-old. He got a sneak peek of the professional game during his two-game stint at the Las Vegas Summer League.
Flagg says the Mavericks, who are built on their new defensive philosophy, could be one of the best teams in the NBA on that end of the floor.
“Just utilizing our size,” Flagg said. “Using that to our advantage. We have a lot of tall, lanky position players. Covering a lot of ground with our length.”
Flagg received credit from veteran sharpshooter Klay Thompson for being involved in every drill, a testament to the work ethic he’s built a reputation for since he was a preteen.
“Cooper did great,” Thompson said. “I’m most impressed he did not sit out one drill. I don’t care how many shots he misses, how many mistakes he makes. The fact that he’s in there and he’s competing every single drill, that’s what impresses me.”
“He’s a competitor,” Jason Kidd said. “He made a lot of the right plays. Handling the ball, playing without the ball at 18 years old. He understands how to play the game at a high level and I thought his energy was great.”
The first practice was an opportunity to implement some core principles the Mavericks are emphasizing this season. Kidd said having fun, building championship habits, communication and relationship building were focal points in Tuesday’s session.
Since his junior season at Nokomis High School, Flagg has learned four variations of terminology in offensive and defensive schemes across different levels of basketball: High school, prep school (Montverde), college and now the NBA.
“It’s different,” Flagg said, “But it’s all the same thing at the end of the day. You just gotta get accustomed to saying different things. Sometimes I mess up and use old terminology I used at Duke and stuff, but at the end of the day, if you say something, it’s better than saying nothing. Just letting your teammates know where you are.”
That level of communication should be beneficial by the time Flagg steps on an actual NBA court. His unofficial debut in a Mavericks jersey will be in Monday’s preseason opener in Fort Worth against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I’m ready. I’m excited,” Flagg said. “I’m just trying to take it one step at a time. Enjoying every process, every step of the way. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I’m really excited.”
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