Villanueva argued on a podcast that Cooper Flagg’s race disqualifies him despite his rising stardom with the Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg is 19 years old and already one of the best basketball players in the world.
Last week, ESPN analyst Jeremy Lin called him “generational” and said he and Victor Wembanyama could become the NBA’s next great rivalry.
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Flagg has also drawn favorable comparisons to LeBron James at the same age, including from Brian Windhorst.
“In my view, Cooper is better at defense than LeBron was at the same age. I don’t even think it’s debatable,” Windhorst said.
“There were defensive plays LeBron made at that age. He certainly would get into passing lanes, he certainly would block shots, he was a defensive playmaker, but Cooper is better defensively, empirically; I don’t think that’s debatable.”
Flagg is averaging 27 points, six rebounds and seven assists during his second season.