Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg shouts out Wings’ Paige Bueckers

It’s uncanny how much they have in common.

Cooper Flagg was a McDonald’s All-American and the Gatorade National Player of the Year as a high school senior. So was Paige Bueckers.

Flagg was college basketball’s national Player of the Year as a Duke freshman. Bueckers was college basketball’s national Player of the Year as a UConn freshman.

Buckers was the WNBA’s No. 1 overall draft pick of 2025, by the Dallas Wings. A year later, the Dallas Mavericks drafted Flagg No. 1 overall.

So when Flagg this week was named the NBA’s Kia Rookie of the Year, duplicating Buecker’s WNBA ROY honor from last season, Gatorade, barely an hour after the announcement, pounced with ad that featured Bueckers “calling” Flagg and leaving him a congratulations voicemail.

“Coop! Congrats on Rookie of the Year. Not bad for our first rodeo, right? Now let’s see who gets that ring for Dallas first.”    

Flagg of course has seen and loves the ad, and when asked about it on Wednesday, he expressed appreciation for Bueckers.

“I think just the support, obviously, she’s in Dallas as well, and I think a very similar situation,” Flagg said. “She was the No. 1 pick. She came in, had an incredible first year.”

“And so I think just having that support, knowing that there’s somebody you know right there, right down the street, that went through a very similar thing, and just having her reach out and have that support is huge.”

As Bueckers indicated in her congratulations “voicemail,” perhaps there will be even more notable similarities as their parallel career paths continue in Dallas.

Imagine how many young basketball fans they have and will make in North Texas.

“For me and Paige to be here, I think it can say a lot about about the future,” Flagg said. “Just knowing how much of an impact she’s had on the younger generation, and I’ve been able to feel a huge impact on the younger generation, as well.”

“It makes me really happy. I feel blessed because I don’t feel that far removed from being a little kid and looking up to players and stuff like that. So it feels great.”