If you somehow forgot which player the Mavericks selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Dallas fans have made a habit of reminding you — every time the national anthem is played before home games.
Whoever performs “The Star-Spangled Banner” on a given night is met with an attentive and reverent crowd at the American Airlines Center. But when the singer reaches the sixth line, a solo turns into an ensemble.
“That our FLAGG was still there.”
The crowd joins in, emphasizing the last name of Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg, which, of course, happens to be a homonym for the word “flag.”
Mavs fans have been yelling “Flagg” during the national anthem to start the season 🗣️
(via @DLLS_Mavs)pic.twitter.com/2SMzvjNnv4
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 27, 2025
After four home games to start the 2025-26, the singalong has already become a tradition, though not an entirely original one. When the American Airlines Center serves as an NHL arena, Dallas Stars fans have long shouted their team’s name during the anthem: “Whose broad stripes and bright STARS” and “O say does that STAR-spangled banner yet wave.” Even at Mavericks games, many fans yell “stars” when the song reaches these two lines.
The Dallas crowd seems to have immediately embraced Flagg as a symbol of hope. After Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison made the stunning and controversial decision to trade Luka Dončić before last season’s deadline, sending the then-25-year-old perennial MVP candidate to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a three-team deal that brought Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a future first-round pick back to Dallas, fan morale neared an all-time low.
Until the NBA held its annual Draft Lottery on May 12. The Mavericks, with just a 1.8 percent chance, won the lottery and the rights to draft Flagg with the first pick. An elated Harrison fell out of his chair on live TV.
Before the draft, NBA scouts considered Flagg to be one of the best all-around prospects of the past decade. The 18-year-old from Maine earned comparisons to players like Jayson Tatum and Scottie Pippen. Before even starting his college career at Duke, Flagg turned heads with his performance on USA Basketball’s Select Team, a group of up-and-coming American players chosen to train alongside the senior men’s national team during preparations as the 2024 Paris Olympics. According to reports, Flagg held his own against the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. Footage of Flagg dunking over Davis in a scrimmage caused a brief internet frenzy.
When he arrived at Duke, Flagg delivered on the hype. He led the Blue Devils to a 35-4 record and a trip to the Final Four, with per-game averages of 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks. In his first and only season of college basketball, Flagg earned a spot on the All-America first team and was named Naismith Player of the Year.
Fans in Dallas aren’t alone in their anthem wordplay. The Washington Capitals crowd yells “red” during “Rockets’ red glare,” a reference to the team’s “Rock the Red” slogan; and Baltimore Orioles fans emphasize the “O!” at the beginning of “O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave.”
But no individual athlete appears to have received that honor before Flagg.
The rookie forward is averaging 13 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, and the Mavericks have gotten off to a slow 1–3 start.
Regardless, the fans keep singing his praises.