LAS VEGAS — Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Team USA prepared by hosting a scrimmage vs. the USA men's basketball select team, which is usually comprised of young NBA players, who are invited to go up against the national team, helping them get ready for the upcoming international competition.
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To point out, Cooper Flagg, who is committed to Duke, was the first high school/college player in the last decade to be invited to be a part of the USA select team squad.
The 6-foot-9 forward from Newport, Maine, already has quite the resume, as he was the USA Basketball's Male Athlete of the Year in 2022, won the Gatorade/Naismith Player of the Year Awards, and was a McDonald's All-American in 2023. Not to mention, he led the U17 Team USA basketball team to a gold medal at the World Cup.
Blessing the timeline with more Cooper Flag film this morning
— Ryan Coyle (@ryancoyle35) July 9, 2024
In his first chance against NBA competition, the 17-year-old surely did not disappoint. Towards the end of game, he was seen hitting a three-pointer in the face of Anthony Davis, then subsequently had a putback 'And-1' on Bam Adebayo a little over 10 seconds later.
Duke commit Cooper Flagg has taken over USA Basketball scrimmage: hits a three and then finishes a tough putback pic.twitter.com/SB3Y4fDpYt
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) July 8, 2024
The Olympic team beat the select team 74-73, yet Flagg put on a show down the stretch, as he nearly helped lead the underdog youngsters to a win over the Team USA 'Avengers' roster. That is to say, during the scrimmage, some of the best players in the world were on the court, to go against the recent high school graduate, such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, and more...
All this just to beat Cooper Flag by 1 point pic.twitter.com/MorotaZWp5
— Synthetic Sports (@SyntheticSports) July 8, 2024
"He kicked butt here," Jamahl Mosley, the head coach of the U.S. select team, said. "There's a respect factor for what he's done. People who have not seen him play, as he gets himself going within the game, they quickly see what he can do."
Cooper Flagg, AD, and LeBron on the same court is unbelievable pic.twitter.com/qLJvQYVJMV
— Ishan Ghosh (@ishanghosh824) July 8, 2024
Flagg commented on the experience saying, "The opportunity, it was great," he said. "It was a blessing to be here. I think just the physicality, and just the level of where I want to get to, there's a lot to get better at, a lot where I need to keep improving. This showed just how big the details are."
He went on to say, "I was really excited for this opportunity. And I'm just really blessed that I was able to come out and capitalize on it, and show what I have. I was really grateful to come out and learn. That was the biggest thing for me, just being able to learn and grow, to share a gym with all of these great, great names. Legends. So, I'm just truly blessed."
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