Cooper Flagg's personal trainer reflects on what he's seen from the first overall draft pick at the beginning of his rookie season.
You may be hard pressed to find a rookie in the 2025 NBA Draft class with as much competitiveness as first-overall pick Cooper Flagg, who was drafted by a Dallas Mavericks franchise in the midst of turmoil following an earth-shaking trade and a slew of major injuries just months away from the firing of its general manager.
That's why, for Flagg, the Mavs' woes to start the season are so frustrating, at least according to his personal trainer Matt MacKenzie.
"In terms of losing games, it’s about making sure that he’s maintaining that competitive edge and not allowing that to be something that he is comfortable with experiencing," MacKenzie told EssentiallySports about what he works on with Flagg.
"That’s not in his DNA. He’s so competitive. It absolutely burns his insides to lose games."
Dallas sits at 9-16 with one of the worst offenses in the NBA. The team began the season with head coach Jason Kidd deploying Flagg at point guard - a position he had never played before - with the hopes to get him comfortable in a variety of different on-ball situations. Kidd figured the exposure might help his offensive transition be as smooth as his defense was expected to be.
"As we’ve seen, he’s really starting to settle into the expectations of him. That’s especially on the offensive end," MacKenzie said. "I think early on in the season, he was just feeling things out, learning how to play with certain teammates and learning what the expectations were of him within the actions they were playing. ... Now that he’s just over a quarter of the way into the season, you’re really seeing him start to settle into a role and start to become more assertive on the offensive end."
Flagg is averaging 17.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in a team-high 33 minutes this year. The rookie has especially come on as of late, averaging over 20 points per game on 50 percent shooting from the field in Dallas' last 10 games.
The Duke alum began the season with signs of hesitancy as he accepted a more facilitating role in the offense, but since fellow youngsters Ryan Nembhard and Brandon Williams have emerged as competent floor generals, it's allowed Flagg to flourish in his normal position on the wing, where he can slash to the basket and set up in mid-range isolation. Flagg's also shown increased comfort after the Mavericks have allowed him the freedom to make mistakes, because learning from them is better than pressing to avoid them altogether.
“Just hearing that message that is consistent across the board from his coaching staff, to his inner circle, to his veteran teammates, they all have the expectation of him choosing to play with assertiveness and to be in attack mode from the jump ball to the finish," his trainer said. "There may be some times where he feels like he can get a better shot. But that’s the nature of being a star player in this league.
"I knew there was going to be a turning point. I’ve just been really happy to see that it started to happen. He’s starting to realize that in order for his team to have success, that’s the style of basketball that he’s going to need to play. He’s more than capable of doing so."
Moving forward, MacKenzie says its an individual, game-by-game assessment of how the rookie can get better - both on and off the floor, as it relates to his on-court production and pregame preparation in the weight room and beyond.
The highlight-reel dunks and crafty finishes have been fun to see, but perhaps the most instrumental showing of Flagg's star potential is his performance in crunch time. Flagg is sitting fourth in the entire league in clutch points, which are scored with less than five minutes to go in a five-points-or-less score game.
That shows multiple things: Flagg is trusted within the offense at such make-or-break scenarios, and he's confident enough to attack. Then he's making the most of those opportunities and contributing to wins.
It's part of his evolution as the Mavs' No. 1 option on offense, and it's only expected to continue.
“We’re going to continue to keep our head down and continue to work," says MacKenzie. "I know that Cooper’s biggest thing is that he wants to be a very impactful two-way player in the league for many, many years. In order for that to happen, he needs to continue to be reflective and improve in every category that he possibly can. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
"He’s only a quarter of the way through his rookie season. So I think you’ll see him start to play his best basketball as a rookie in the next several weeks. He’ll continue to get better. He’ll continue to settle in. You’re going to see a more polished version of Cooper Flagg about midway through the season.”