Cooper Flagg’s Adorable Childhood Rivalry Revealed!

Cooper Flagg is anticipated to be the top selection in the 2025 NBA Draft. As he prepares to join the Dallas team, it remains to be seen which teams will emerge as his main competitors. However, a recent article in Sports Illustrated by Chris Mannix delves into his early competitive experiences, notably those against his twin brother, Ace, and his mother, Kelly, right in their own driveway.

Raised in a competitive household, Cooper often played against Ace, who is slightly older by a minute and is set to play for the University of Maine. However, their mother Kelly was often his toughest challenger at home during his younger years.

The driveway basketball games often lasted until late in the evening, but Cooper’s real competition was his mother. After her college basketball career, Kelly never stopped playing the game. She doesn’t recall the exact moment of their first matchup, but she always played to win. Whenever Cooper attempted a shot, she was there to block it. If he wanted to score, he had to really earn it by overcoming her defense. “He’ll win when he’s capable of winning,” she would say to her husband, Ralph, who generally stayed out of the games to avoid injuries. By the time Cooper was finishing sixth grade and had grown to six feet tall, Kelly’s strategy of posting up began to fail. Their final game ended when she injured her meniscus, effectively ending their competitions.

Ralph Flagg, Cooper’s father, probably made a wise decision by staying out of these intense games. Given Cooper’s ascent to the nation’s top basketball prospect and his mother’s knee injury, his caution seems justified.

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