The Dallas Mavericks notched a convincing 106-89 win over the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder Monday night to open the preseason. It can be difficult to take much from a game wherein none of the Mavericks starters logged even 16 minutes of play, but the postgame press conference offered up something of note.
After scoring 10 points in 14 minutes of action, Cooper Flagg joined head coach Jason Kidd and teammate Max Christie for the presser. Flagg’s Q&A wrapped up with a question pertaining
to his relationship with teammate and starting point guard D’Angelo Russell. Flagg was asked about his connection with Russell and about what advice the veteran has shared.
“He’s been an incredible influence so far just setting the tone at a really high level,” Flagg said of Russell, before then describing him as “…being a role model.” The choice of words is interesting, as they echo words often spoken about Kyrie Irving. Russell is Irving’s replacement as the starting point guard for the time being, but it wasn’t clear exactly what type of leadership role he would be taking with the team. Apparently, he’s aiming to fill the absence of Irving in more ways than one.
While some may write this off as the requisite compliments any teammate would give, Flagg said something else that goes beyond what may be considered platitudes. Flagg recounted some advice Russell gave him, knowing the ball handling duties would fall on both players during the season. “I gotta know every position through the plays and whatever actions we’re running.”
This advice sounds obvious, but the fact Flagg’s role as a primary ball handler in the NBA will likely far exceed his ball handling when he played at the collegiate level, having a veteran like Russell share his knowledge is important. For better or worse, it will be some time before Flagg can share court time with Irving, so Russell stepping up as a veteran leader is crucial. He has already spoken about his connection with Klay Thompson, so it’s becoming evident he isn’t going to be satisfied holding Irving’s spot for a few months, but rather, he appears to be bringing all he can to the team, especially the future face of the franchise in Cooper Flagg.
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