Friday night’s game against the Boston Celtics may not have ended the way Cooper Flagg wanted. But it was still a dream come true for the Dallas Mavericks rookie.
The 19-year-old from Maine grew up in Newport watching the Celtics. And now, when he really should just be a freshman in college, he’s already playing against them.
Flagg scored 16 points to go with eight rebounds and six assists in his return to New England, but the Mavericks fell to the Celtics 120-100.
The 6-foot-9 forward spoke about the experience of playing in front of a friendly Boston crowd, which was overflowing with Maine support on Friday night.
“Just to have that experience, it was really cool,” Flagg said. “The energy was incredible.”
He noted that the return of Celtics star Jason Tatum, who played his first game of the season after tearing his achilles last year, helped create an “incredible environment” at the TD Garden.
“I tried to take a moment to take a deep breath and take it all in,” Flagg said. “It’s a dream come true, just being out there on that court, competing and playing at a high level.”
And though Flagg enjoyed the Boston atmosphere, he said he isn’t looking to permanently relocate north anytime soon. A reporter asked him if playing in Boston made him want to experience the environment with that as his home crowd.
“No, I love being a Maverick,” Flagg responded. “It’s home, and I don’t want anything else. So, it was incredible to be able to play here. Obviously this is the place I came when I was a kid and got to watch. So I think it’s going to be incredibly fun for the rest of my career to be able to come here and play in front of this crowd.”
He also had a chance to play against one of his idols in Tatum who, like him, is a former Duke Blue Devil. The two players shared a moment after the game.
“There’s so many levels to it,” Flagg said about his connection with Tatum. “He’s somebody that I idolized growing up, and watched him go through the levels and ranks.”
Flagg said he kind of followed in Tatum’s footsteps by going to play at Duke under coach Jon Scheyer. And now they’ve launched a new stage in their connection: competitors.
Tatum scored 15 points in his return to the court for the Celtics.
“He just told me to keep going,” Flagg said about his time with Tatum after Friday night’s game. “He’s been a mentor for me through my journey, and from Duke to now, and he’s been somebody that I’ve been able to talk to and get advice from.”
Flagg said it was “incredible” that Tatum was able to come back from his injury so fast.
And just as Tatum helped inspire him, Flagg is now inspiring the next group of young Maine basketball players who are looking to follow in his footsteps. Flagg was told after the game how a 12-year-old player from Gorham, Quinn Goff, said on the train down to Boston Friday morning that wants to be like him.
“That’s incredible,” Flagg said. “I remember being a little kid and looking up to guys and stuff like that. So it’s incredible to have that type of impact. And that’s one of the main reasons why I’m able to do what I do and I’m able to stay motivated, is for stuff like that and inspiring the next generation.”
