"Cooper is his worst critic" - Cooper Flagg's trainer draws comparison to Kobe Bryant's mentality lauding his work ethic

Ever since the Dallas Mavericks bagged the first pick in the 2025 draft, Cooper Flagg has been the talk of the town. The former Duke Blue Devil has the potential to become a franchise legend and succeed great players like Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic.

However, Mavs minority owner Mark Cuban sees a glimpse of the late great Kobe Bryant in Dallas' rookie. After Flagg's first summer league game, Cuban mentioned Bryant in his analogy, comparing how the Lakers legend took two years to prepare for the league, suggesting Flagg might also need time to develop his skills.

On Sunday, Sportskeeda's Mark Medina published an article featuring a detailed interview with Flagg's trainer, Matt MacKenzie. During one segment, Medina asked MacKenzie for his thoughts on the parallels between Bryant and Cooper Flagg. In response, the rookie's trainer revealed that the Mavs star shares some similarities with the Mamba mentality:

"Cooper is his worst critic, Mackenzie said. "There's nothing that anybody in the media is going to say that's worse than what he's saying to himself. He criticizes his own game more than anybody in the media possibly could. He has incredibly high expectations of himself."

MacKenzie revealed that the Mavs rookie always looks to refine his skills and find ways to get better. He said that Flagg wants to do everything he can for the team and that he strives hard to become the best version of himself. This is not so different from the Mamba mentality, which Kobe once described in an Amazon book review as:

“Mamba mentality is all about focusing on the process and trusting in the hard work when it matters most. It’s the ultimate mantra for the competitive spirit.

“Hard work outweighs talent -- every time. Mamba mentality is about 4 a.m. workouts, doing more than the next guy and then trusting in the work you’ve put in when it’s time to perform. Without studying, preparation and practice, you’re leaving the outcome to fate. I don’t do fate.”

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Cooper Flagg's trainer reveals which Mavericks legend the rookie has modelled his game after

During another segment of the interview with Mark Medina, Matt MacKenzie discussed the possible link-up between Cooper Flagg and Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki. The trainer revealed that it would be great for his client and Nowitzki to link up and for the Mavs legend to possibly play the role of a mentor in Flagg's career.

He later revealed that Flagg used to watch Nowitzki and has modelled his game after the Mavs legend.

"When Cooper was young, we used to study film of Dirk," MacKenzie said. "We used to watch how he would use his body and use his length to be able to create space and be able to get off his shot. He's somebody that Cooper has taken bits and pieces of his game and modeled who he is as a player."

Cooper Flagg has had a good start to his summer league journey. The rookie had a decent showing in his team's 87-85 win against the Lakers on Thursday. He then exploded for 31 points in his team's 76-69 loss against the Spurs.