NEWPORT, Maine — It’s late on an August morning at Nokomis Regional High in the tiny town in rural Maine. The hardwood floor inside the school’s small gymnasium beams with a glossy shine. It looks brand new, but it’s not. Remodeled, but nowhere near untouched. It’s where Cooper Flagg took the first shots of his high school career.
In one sensational freshman season, he earned the black Gatorade Player of the Year banner that hangs on one wall of the gym, adjacent to seven state championship banners, including the one commemorating the school’s only basketball title, one Flagg helped deliver.
Around the corner from the gym, a golden basketball trophy with a wooden base, wrapped with the championship net, rests inside a case. It’s Maine’s version of the Larry O’Brien. Inside the same cabinet sits a ball honoring Flagg’s mother, Kelly, who scored 1,257 points in her career at Nokomis.
Kelly and her husband, Ralph, placed a basketball in their son’s hands, introducing him to a game that would take him from the blue-collar town of Newport to the bustling Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the fourth largest media market in the country. That simple action, something most basketball moms and dads do, led to the birth of Flagg’s fierce competitive nature.
Mavericks
Kelly and Ralph Flagg parents of Dallas Mavericks rookie forward Cooper Flagg watch a match during the 2025 Dirk Nowitzki Foundation 7th Annual Tennis Classic at the Banner House at T Bar M in Dallas on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
No matter the challenge, whether it’s one-on-one with his twin brother, Ace, or two-on-two with the boys against their parents. Even a game of HORSE between all four and Flagg’s older brother, Hunter. The goal was simple: Just win.
On the court, winning is the only thing that matters, says Flagg, the multifaceted No. 1 overall pick and rookie forward for the Mavericks. Sacrificing personal success is a simple choice if it means his team is the last one standing. Those who know him will tell you individual stat lines are irrelevant to Flagg, even though he can stuff the final box score. He’s rarely lost, but when he has, the distraught feeling has driven him to improve.
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) takes in the moment before the start of his first game at American Airlines Center, a preseason contest against the Charlotte Hornets on Oct. 11, 2025.
Steve Hamm / Special Contributor
Flagg wants Mavericks fans to know what he’s about, on and off the court, which aren’t that far apart.
“I want to do whatever it takes to help the team win, no matter what that is,” Flagg recently told The Dallas Morning News. “Off the court, I’m 18. I’m young, but I’m competitive as hell.”
The yearn for constant competition fuels him. It’s why he didn’t stay at Nokomis longer. It’s why he reclassified to skip his final year of high school instead of remaining comfortable. Why he could hold his own among a court full of future Hall of Famers before he was drafted.
His mom’s favorite quote explains why the desire to challenge himself has been present at every step of his basketball journey.
“If you’re the best player in the gym, then it’s time to find a new gym,” Flagg repeats verbatim, without a stutter.
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‘The Maine Event’
Flagg’s freshman coach, Earl Anderson, was among one of the first to witness his eye-popping versatility and the fierce competitor who became the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft.
“His physical talent was off the charts. He’s a freak,” Anderson told The News, “but mentally, you can’t coach that. It’s just so rare.”
Before the radiant spotlight he occupies today, and long before he was able to sport a goatee, Flagg was a lanky baby-faced teenager with a gradual buzz surrounding his name. Despite his young age, Flagg used his two-way skillset to terrorize teenagers of all sizes as a freshman at Nokomis, where before he was a Maverick, Flagg was a Warrior.
Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg played one year at Nokomis Regional High School in Newport, Maine, where he won the school’s first state title in basketball and was named Gatorade Player of the Year.
Mike Curtis / Staff
Nokomis is the all-encompassing secondary school that accepts students from eight nearby towns. American flags line the light poles of downtown Newport, with additional banners attached to celebrate the city’s ‘Hometown Heroes,’ an initiative to honor local military veterans. It’s small enough, with a population of nearly 3,200, that “blink and you miss it” is a common refrain.
“You could drive right down Main Street through ‘quote, unquote’ downtown and not even know you were in downtown Newport,” said Anderson, who’s coached basketball in Maine for more than 40 years.
Newport, Maine, with a population of nearly 3,200, is the hometown of Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg. Residents pride themselves on their appreciation for nature and outdoor activities such as hunting and fishing, and in winter, basketball is a premier event.
Mike Curtis / Staff
Newport residents pride themselves on their appreciation for nature and outdoor activities such as hunting and fishing. Flagg calls it a tight-knit community, one where it seems like everybody knows everybody. Its people are proud of where they’re from, especially the native son who earned the nickname “The Maine Event.”
“I think it just shapes the values that you have and what you believe in,” Flagg said. “For me, there’s a lot of loyalty. Having your family’s back and the people that matter to you. That’s just where I get that from.”
The people of Newport also treat high school basketball as a premier event every winter, especially during Flagg’s freshman season.
Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg played one year at Nokomis Regional High School in Newport, Maine, where he won the school’s first state title in basketball and was named Gatorade Player of the Year.
Mike Curtis / Staff
The Warriors dominated with a 21-1 record and Flagg stuffed the stat sheet with averages of 20.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 3.7 steals and 3.7 blocks. The Herculean effort culminated in a 22-point, 16-rebound double-double in the state title game over Falmouth in 2022. Nokomis was established in 1969 and hadn’t won a state championship in boys basketball in 54 years until Flagg’s arrival.
“That championship meant a lot to this community, to his teammates and to him,” Anderson said.
That title game was the final time Flagg would wear the burgundy and white for the Warriors. It was time to find a new gym.
The selfless teammate
Flagg left his hometown to play the rest of his high school career for legendary coach Kevin Boyle at Montverde Academy in Florida.
Boyle’s reputation preceded him. The former Montverde coach, now the director of basketball at SPIRE Academy in Ohio, is a four-time Naismith High School Coach of the Year and has coached over 25 NBA draft picks, including Flagg’s Mavericks teammates Kyrie Irving (St. Patrick’s High School) and D’Angelo Russell (Montverde). Flagg was the fourth No. 1 overall pick he’s coached, joining Irving, Ben Simmons and Arlington native Cade Cunningham.
With over 150 Division I players in his pipeline, Flagg’s talent and work ethic stood out to Boyle.
“Didn’t have to get in his ass a lot to make him go hard,” Boyle told The News. “Ninety percent of the time, that was who he was.”
Flagg’s former teammates consider him a selfless player, which can be an outlier for a player of his caliber in today’s NBA. He was among a talented group of six seniors that included fellow first-round draft picks Derik Queen, Asa Newell and Richardson’s Liam McNeeley.
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) received congratulations from teammate Naji Marshall (13) as he was fouled while sinking a 3-pointer during the first half of a preaseason NBA game against the Charlotte Hornets at American Airlines Center on Oct. 11, 2025. Pictured in the background on the Hornets bench is forward Liam McNeeley (33), Flagg’s former teammate at Montverde Academy in Florida.
Steve Hamm / Special Contributor
When Boyle needed Flagg to come off the bench, the future No. 1 overall pick didn’t hesitate to sacrifice for the greater good.
“Coach, I’m all in. Do what you have to do,” Flagg said he told him.
He makes his teammates’ jobs on the court easier, they say. He offers support in times of adversity. He holds them accountable and holds himself to the same standard. Most important, Flagg balances his greatness with humility.
“He had all the hype. All the internet fame and stuff like that, but he never let it show,” McNeeley told The News. “Never switched up. He stayed the same Cooper and that’s what I love about him.”
McNeeley and Flagg, who spent two seasons as teammates at Montverde, reunited when the Mavericks hosted the Charlotte Hornets for a preseason game. McNeeley, the 29th pick in the 2025 NBA draft, now plays with two of Flagg’s teammates from Duke, Kon Knueppel and Sion James, who were selected fourth and 33rd, respectively.
“Obviously, that competitiveness will come out on the court, but he’s definitely really grounded off of it,” Knueppel told The News, while James said Flagg is “one of those people that’s very easy to cheer for.”
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32), left, goes eye to eye with Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel (7), his former teammate at Duke, during an offensive drive by the Mavericks in the first half of a preseason NBA game at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Oct. 11, 2025.
Steve Hamm / Special Contributor
While the reunion in Dallas was brief, it was meaningful. A reminder of how far Flagg and McNeeley had come since high school. Their two years together included an undefeated season and a national championship in 2024.
For Knueppel and James, it was surreal to be on the same court as professionals less than seven months after Duke’s run to the Final Four. Unlike Nokomis and Montverde, where Flagg reached the championship game and won, Duke’s postseason ended with a loss to Houston in the semifinals.
“He’s a competitor so he was heartbroken,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer told The News. “He poured his blood, sweat and tears into the season. He put us on his back. He did everything that he possibly could for us to have the season that he did, which was one of the all-time great seasons in the history of our program.”
Scheyer praised Flagg’s positive disposition and ability to connect with his teammates, especially in defeat.
Duke’s Cooper Flagg, left, and head coach Jon Scheyer sit on a cart outside the locker room after Duke lost to Houston in the national semifinals at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in San Antonio.
Eric Gay / AP
“He has a unique way of understanding and having empathy, and understanding what guys are going through, what they may be feeling and having moments where he challenges them,” the coach said. “He puts his arm around guys. And that just means a lot, especially coming from your best player.”
It also meant it was again time to find a new gym.
Navigating the spotlight
Flagg has been the best player on his team for the majority of his basketball career, which has led to an immense amount of attention. Even Anderson noticed his former player’s popularity skyrocket over the last few years.
“He’s like Taylor Swift,” Anderson said. “He’s like the most famous person on the planet.”
Flagg has spent much of his young life in the public eye, but those who know him best say the spotlight has never been too bright. He’s been called a prodigy, a generational talent and he’s already in a prime position to become the next face of the Mavericks, perhaps even the NBA.
Those are lofty expectations for anyone, let alone an 18-year-old. Flagg understood at an early age that he was different, and there were eyes on him no matter where he went.
“It’s tough sometimes,” Flagg said. “There’s a lot of things as a high school kid that I couldn’t do that a lot of my friends were doing. It’s not always easy or fun to be in that position, but it’s a blessing at the same time. The sacrifices you have to make, but it’s all part of it. I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m grateful for every day.”
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) shares a light moment with teammates during warmups before the start of a preseason NBA game against the Charlotte Hornets at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Oct. 11, 2025.
Steve Hamm / Special Contributor
Flagg doesn’t shy away from that reality. The scrutiny that’s inevitable at the NBA level, the comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic, the constant attention. It’s all irrelevant to him because his priorities are simple: compete at the highest level and win.
“I’m just going to try and be myself and I’m going to push myself to be better day and day,” Flagg said. “Make the most out of every day and not try to live up to certain player’s expectations or things like that. I’m just going to try and be myself and really just try to get better every single day.”
That balance has allowed him to remain grounded in a world that rarely allows teenage stars to be. He has his “village” to thank for that. They don’t allow him to forget where he comes from. He still remembers the faces that filled the Nokomis gym when the town rallied around its team.
The same kid who once ran layup lines in the tiny gym now plays under the brightest lights in the NBA – and carries that small-town pride wherever he goes.
For Flagg, the notoriety isn’t the reward; the work is. His competitiveness, shaped in driveway battles with his family and sharpened on elite courts, drives him every day. Whether it’s fighting for a rebound or hustling for a loose ball, he wants to do whatever it takes to have an impact on the game.
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) spreads positive energy while warming up with teammates before a preseason NBA game against the Charlotte Hornets at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Oct. 11, 2025.
Steve Hamm / Special Contributor
“He’s a competitor and that’s what you love about him,” Scheyer said. “Winning matters. Stats are secondary to him.”
As he prepares for his rookie season, Flagg is embracing the next challenge: Become one of the best players in his new gym.
“The moment is not too big for him,” Boyle said. “One day, he’s going to be an MVP of the NBA.”
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His former coach and teammates know what he’s capable of. The Mavericks will have a courtside view to witness his potential. The rest of the NBA is about to, as well.
Because for Flagg, the goal remains the same as it was on those long winter nights in Newport: just win.
And if history is any indication, that’s exactly what he’ll find a way to do.
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