Former No. 1 pick Blake Griffin offers advice to Player of the Year Cooper Flagg
Former No. 1 pick Blake Griffin offers advice to Player of the Year Cooper Flagg
Blake Griffin entered the NBA with high expectations as the No. 1 pick in 2009, and the former 13-year veteran recently offered some advice to likely top pick Cooper Flagg.
Griffin was the Player of the Year and the clear choice to be the top pick in the draft after a stellar two-year run at Oklahoma. Though Griffin missed his first year due to a knee injury, the former All-American was the Rookie of the Year and an All-Star the following season.
After living up to the hype to begin his career with the LA Clippers, Griffin is an ideal person to offer Flagg advice as he heads into the NBA. Griffin, speaking with Bryan Kalbrosky of For The Win, preached patience, with the draft less than four weeks away.
Just enjoy it. It sounds sort of cliché, but it all goes by so quickly. You'll only experience this draft process one time. Soak it in and don't get too weighed down with all the other stuff. All the people around you will take care of all that. Just enjoy every single moment. Remember, this is just the beginning. As a young guy, you want everything right away. You want to get to everything. But your career is a marathon. Enjoy it. Appreciate all the hard work you've done to get to this point. Know that it continues.
Flagg led Duke to the Final Four, averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks on 38.5% shooting from 3-point range. He became the 22nd player in program history to be named a consensus first-team All-American.
The 18-year-old knows a thing or two about expectations himself after entering this past season with high hopes as the consensus top recruit in the class of 2024. He was highly touted out of the Montverde Academy and eventually established himself as the face of the sport.
Flagg is considered a lock to be selected with the first pick by the Dallas Mavericks and projects as the next generational player the organization can build around. Like Griffin, Flagg will have a highly anticipated rookie campaign next season.
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