Andy Bedard and Matt MacKenzie have seen a lot of amazing moments from Cooper Flagg over the years, as the two coaches have helped Flagg develop into a world-class basketball talent.
But Bedard and MacKenzie had never experienced anything quite like Wednesday night, when they sat together in the first row at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and watched the Dallas Mavericks pick Flagg first overall in the NBA draft.
It had never happened before for a kid from Maine.
“We just kept looking at each other asking if this was real,” Bedard said Friday morning. “Are we still dreaming? Is this really happening right now? Because it’s just beyond our wildest dreams.”
Bedard and MacKenzie have both coached Flagg for years, Bedard in AAU basketball and MacKenzie as Flagg’s player development coach. Flagg’s mother, Kelly Flagg, told the Bangor Daily News earlier this year that Bedard and MacKenzie are two of the more pivotal pieces in Flagg’s astounding basketball journey.
MacKenzie has continued to work with Flagg to further sharpen his skills, most recently training with the NBA Summer League in mind as it gets set to tip off in July. MacKenzie said he was “overwhelmed with emotions” watching Flagg take this next step Wednesday night.
“Above anything, I’m incredibly proud of Cooper. And it all kind of hit me last night when I heard his name called as the first overall pick,” MacKenzie said on Thursday. “It just felt like a culmination of all the hard work that we’ve put in over the years came to reality, and it was amazing to see that just a kid from Maine could really do this.”
MacKenzie and Bedard said they were sitting in the front row Wednesday night with their wives and Flagg’s grandparents.
“So we were sitting just behind the main table, front row, just kind of anxiously awaiting the moment — for the moment to happen,” MacKenzie said. “And when his name was called, Andy and I just kind of looked at each other and nodded our heads. And it just kind of hit us both at the same time and, you know, we were just filled with emotion.”
Both MacKenzie and Bedard noted the tremendous hype surrounding Flagg in New York.
“You had to be there because you can’t put into words like the first-class experience and just the buzz in the city,” Bedard said.
“You’re coming around the corner of the Barclays Center, and then right across the street is probably this 100-foot-by-50-foot wallpaper image of Flagg Day and Cooper on the front of the building. And it just really hits home.”
And that was just outside the building.
Bedard is one of Maine’s best all-time basketball players in his own right and is a member of the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame. But he had never been to an NBA draft before in person, and said it was a “really cool experience” to be in the room as it happened and then behind the stage.
MacKenzie said Flagg was the “biggest rock star in New York City over the course of the week,” with his face on billboards and the sides of buildings. Despite all of that hype, MacKenzie credited Flagg for remaining grounded.
“It was incredible, and seeing how he handled it was even more incredible,” MacKenzie said. “Just the composure and his ability to continue to stay grounded and be true to who he is — and not allow any of the hype, any of the noise to distract him — that to me just says a lot about who he is as a person, and how ready for this he really is.”
MacKenzie said Flagg is “built for this career” and “built to play basketball” while being a face of the league at the highest level.
Bedard acknowledged Flagg’s incredible talent and size, but stressed Flagg’s “willingness at any moment to out work anybody” as a major factor in why he was sitting front and center at the draft.
“Yeah, he’s more talented than most people, but he certainly outworks everybody he comes up against,” Bedard said. “And that’s really been the message, and that’s kind of why I think he resonates so much with the Maine people.”
Bedard also described the surreal feeling of going through a moment that was both unbelievable and universally expected at the same time. While Flagg’s journey is unprecedented in Maine history and awe-inspiring even to those who have traveled it with him, the entire world expected him to go number on Wednesday night.
Members of Flagg’s inner circle, like every one else, also expected him to be chosen first. But nothing is certain until it actually happens.
“We just couldn’t believe it until we actually heard his name called,” Bedard said.
“And obviously would have been shocked if it wasn’t him, given what he’s done and what he’s accomplished,” Bedard added. “But certainly [it was] just like a little sigh of relief, like OK this is real now.”
The celebration continued Wednesday night with an afterparty at restaurant and arcade Dave & Buster’s in Times Square, where a group of Flagg family, friends, supporters from Maine and others were able to share in the moment with him — after he finished a packed schedule of interviews and other draft day commitments. Bedard said the opportunity to gather with the group meant a lot to Flagg.
“He was just so thankful to be able to share that experience with a large group of people that have been with him since day one, including all the Newport people,” Bedard said. “Those moments probably are far and few between for him going forward, just because of what his schedule will look like. So I know when he gets those opportunities, it means a lot to him.”
As they have signaled throughout a whirlwind year, Flagg and his inner circle were once again trying to live in the moment Wednesday night. But that’s not always an easy thing to do when the moment is so massive.
“We were all just incredibly, incredibly proud and just happy, and we were trying to just kind of stay in the moment,” MacKenzie said. “But at the same time, you know, it’s hard. It still honestly hasn’t fully set in, but it’s definitely starting to.”
Both MacKenzie and Bedard were asked about their first words to Flagg after being drafted by the Mavericks.
“My message to him was just how proud of him I was, and how it has all come full circle,” MacKenzie said. “And all of the countless hours in the gym, and the repetition, and the blood, sweat and tears — and some of the moments where, we’ve not had disagreements, but where we’ve just had to kind of go back and forth on what he needed to do to get better — it all paid off, and the sacrifices he made for so many years, they paid off.”
In addition to the pride and love MacKenzie said he shared with Flagg, the longtime player development coach told the No. 1 pick that “he’s built for success, and that he belongs in the NBA.”
Bedard said he emphasized to Flagg that this wasn’t a matter of luck.
“This is all you,” Bedard said he told Flagg.
