Cooper Flagg is paying homage with Mavericks jersey number selection
Flagg wore No. 32 at Nokomis Regional High School in Maine and the Montverde Academy in Central Florida. He was forced to change it to No. 2 when he began his freshman campaign in Durham, since it is retired to honor two-time NCAA champion Christian Laettner.
The 18-year-old chose to don No. 2 with the Blue Devils to honor a friend who died from brain cancer in November 2022 at 19 years old. He made the switch back to No. 32 because his mother, Kelly, wore it while playing in high school.
"My mom wore 32 when she was in high school, and that was always her number," Flagg said in a video posted by the Mavericks on X. "She had teammates in college that wore it, so she didn't wear it in college. She wore it in high school, so that's really why."
Flagg was the AP national college player of the year after leading 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 a consensus first-team All-American.
The 6-foot-8 Maine native debuted with the Mavericks in the NBA Summer League, averaging 20.5 points, five rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals on 35.7% shooting from the field. He produced 31 points in his second and final appearance on July 12.
Flagg paid great homage to his high school friend at Duke with No. 2, and will now be playing in front of his mother, wearing her number again, beginning next season with the Mavericks.
Note: Throughout August, Rookie Wire is looking at every first-round pick and why each player selected their respective jersey number as they make the jump to the NBA.
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