As the teenage phenom prepares for his sophomore campaign, Brian Windhorst draws bold parallels to King James’ historic rise, predicting a rapid ascent into the NBA’s elite.
Despite a putrid 2025-26 season for the Dallas Mavericks, optimists wish to portray the future as being bright because of the gifts of one young star. it's hard to imagine the future being any brighter.
As the club's 2026-27 training camp begins this weekend and with it featuring Cooper Flagg in town, there's a lot to celebrate.
But should we be celebrating Flagg as if he's the second coming of LeBron James?
No less an authority that ESPN's Brian Windhorst is endorsing that idea.
We've heard the comparisons before, mostly based on stats.
For instance ...
"Cooper Flagg might be putting up the greatest season any 19-year-old has ever had," wrote The Ringer's Michael Pina last spring. "Better than Kobe Bryant and LeBron James at that age ...''
But that wasn't actually saying Flagg is an equal to those legendary stats.
Windhorst is indeed actually saying it.
“Cooper Flagg kept giving me flashbacks to LeBron James as a rookie. By LeBron's second season, he was a top-five player, and I feel strongly that this is Flagg's destiny too,'' Windhorst recently said.
Why does this carry weight? Windhorst came to prominence as a chronicler of James' career, starting way back when he was a kid in Ohio (and when Windhorst was pretty much a kid in Ohio, too).
Playing in 70 games for Dallas this year, Flagg averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game. And we can argue that he played at his highest level later in the year.
And yes, he's still just 19 years old.
The truth is, a critic of ESPN's (and it deserves them) might argue that this level of hyperbole is unfair to Flagg. After all, LeBron James entered the league with the most hype a prospect has ever had ... which might cause one to think the hype is unfair to LeBron, too.
So, Flagg as a top-five player in the NBA, as LeBron quickly became some 20-plus years ago?
The proof won't be in the talk. The proof won't be in the stats.
The Mavs are coming off a woeful 26-win season, and we're quite sure its in the NBA standings where Cooper Flagg would prefer to prove himself.
