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In a few weeks, Cooper Flagg is projected to be the top pick in the 2025 NBA draft. Ahead of this big moment, fans online were buzzing over a connection between him and one of the league's biggest stars.
Coming straight out of high school in 2003, LeBron James was just 18 years old when he joined the NBA ranks. While he spent a year in college, Flagg finds himself in a similar age range. When draft night comes, the Duke phenom will only be nine days older than LeBron when the Cleveland Cavaliers took him first overall.
Cooper Flagg just barely made the age range to be in this year's draft. Following his sophomore year of high school, he reclassified to jump up a year and reach college sooner. This is how he was able to spend his lone season with the Blue Devils.
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Given the shocking realization, fans chimed in online with their thoughts on the similarities between Flagg and the LA Lakers star.
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Days removed from the draft lottery, most fans are just eager for Flagg to showcase his talents in the pros.
"He's going to tear it up against the big boys," one fan said.
"Cooper Flagg about to be a top 25 player of all time," another fan said.
"Kinda insane considering the slimmest of chances with everything surrounding this. The game truly is a game of INCHES," said one fan.
Cooper Flagg draws comparisons to multi-time NBA Finals MVP
When it comes to the NBA draft process, player comparisons are always a prime topic of conversation regarding the top prospects. In the case of Cooper Flagg, he's drawn similarities to one of the top talents of this generation.
As the draft combine rages on, insider Jonathan Givony spoke with various executives across the league regarding Flagg. One Western Conference GM went as far as to say that Flagg's best comp is peak Kawhi Leonard.
"The best comp I've heard from our scouts is prime Kawhi Leonard," a Western Conference general manager said. "Now, that's not perfect because they are very different players at the same age, but it's the one I like in terms of their style of play, two-way versatility, passing and the fact that they can both guard point guards, wings and big men."
Seeing that Leonard is a two-time finals MVP and one of the best two-way stars of the last decade, this is incredibly high praise for Flagg. Based on how he dominated both ends of the floor in college, comparing him to the LA Clippers star is rather reasonable.
Fans and analysts have been buzzing over Flagg for the past year now, and many anxiously await the start of his NBA career. Comparisons like this are a testament to the high regard he's held in as a prospect and the lofty expectations he faces ahead.
