Cooper Flagg poses on the red carpet prior to the NBA Draft on June 25 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)
I’m not a big fan of lists. I read them, of course. They’re often unavoidable.
They’re easy. It typically doesn’t take a lot of thought to regurgitate a list. Most of the time it just takes a little memory, a notepad, and a pen.
They’re disposable. A list is a sneeze. It’s there, then it’s gone. Until the next one.
They’re safe. Yeah, people will argue over a list. People argue over everything, but what’s at stake? A fleeting opinion, that’s all.
Some years, we’ve compiled a list of the biggest sports stories in Maine that year. It’s usually less a list and more a time capsule, something to use as a touchstone to a moment in time. You might say to yourself “Of course, 1993. The University of Maine men’s hockey team won the national title. I met the love of my life trying to climb atop Alfond Arena in the celebration.”
People like lists, probably for a lot of the same reasons I’m not a big fan. So, in the spirit of vox populi, here is the list of the top sports stories in Maine in 2025.
That’s it. That’s the list. What, did you really think there was anything else?
Nope. Nothing else comes close. Everything else sports-related that happened in Maine in 2025 belongs on another list. The Hearts of Pine were a huge hit in their first season. The University of Maine men’s hockey team won its first Hockey East championship in 21 years. The high school championships provided their usual array of fantastic finishes.
All interesting stories, sure, but what we saw from Flagg this year was singular. Nobody from Maine had been the first overall pick in any of the major sports leagues. That happens other places.
Maine is being drawn along by him, carried away to Texas.
It felt like the entire state of Maine was at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn that night in June, when Flagg’s name was the first one called by Adam Silver at the NBA Draft. I’d bet after the Dallas metro area, Maine has more regular viewers of Mavericks game than anywhere in the nation.
Adam Robson of Belfast, a junior on Belfast Area High School’s basketball team, snaps a photo of Conte Stadium after arriving at the game with his family to watch Cooper Flagg play for the Duke men’s basketball team against Boston College in January.
Even before the June draft, Maine came out in force to watch Flagg and Duke take on Boston College in January. For Jessica Greene of Island Falls, that meant making a 664-mile round trip from Aroostook County.
Mainers appreciate Flagg because his hard work is obvious, and it’s a reflection of what we know we can be as a state, if we work at it. If a few basketball fans decide to visit us to see where Flagg was molded, then all the better. The door’s open.
There were bumps in the road, there always are. It’s an adjustment going from college ball to the best basketball league in the world. Flagg has shown steady improvement in the NBA, and he’s dragged the Mavericks along with him. After a 5-14 start to the season, Dallas went 7-7 over the next 14 games. The Mavericks are 12-22 after a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.
Cooper Flagg throws down a two-handed dunk on Christmas Day during the Mavericks’ 126-116 loss to the Warriors in San Francisco. (Eakin Howard/Associated Press)
In 32 games, Flagg’s averages of 19.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists are more than respectable. He’s the favorite to win NBA Rookie of the Year, and he’s getting better. He’s been held under 10 points just once, in the fourth game of his career against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the defending champs. In October, Flagg averaged 13.4 points per game. In November, Flagg’s scoring average was 17.8. So far in December, he has averaged 24.3 points in a breakout month.
With 42 points in a 140-133 loss to Utah two weeks ago, Flagg became the youngest player to score more than 40 in an NBA game. He’s scored at least 22 points in seven of his last eight games. He just turned 19 a few days before Christmas.
Flagg is just getting started. That’s why when it comes to listing Maine’s top sports stories of 2025, we can stop at one.