The Boston Celtics and the former Duke Jayson Tatum star praised the current Duke Cooper Flagg star.
“The first impression that I had of coop was how hard he played, how he competed,” said Tatum, 27, during a recent appearance on “New summits. “”
“In high school, it is rare to see a guy who wants to keep the other best player, trying to block each blow, bouncing. And he just plays in the right way,”
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Duke Blue Devils Cooper Flagg (2) Dunks The Ball striker in the first half against the Baylor Bears in the second round of an NCAA tournament match at the Lenovo Center on March 23, 2025. (Zachary Taft / Imagn images)
The Star of the Celtics said that he had seen Flagg play for the first time during his summer camp two years ago.
“He has a big idea of the game. He knows how to settle a screen. He knows when to cut. He likes to involve his teammates, and that was fully exposed all the season and a great reason they have a chance to win a championship,” said Tatum.
Flagg was the catalyst for a Duke 33-3 team and in Sweet 16.
The recruit Star was an All-American consensus during the 2024-25 campaign and is the favorite to win the player of the year after an average of 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 interceptions and 1.3 blocks per match.
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Duke Blue Devils Cooper Flagg (2) controls the ball while the Baylor striker Norchad Omier (15) defends during the second half in the second round of the NCAA tournament at the Lenovo Center on March 23, 2025. (Zachary Taft / Imagn images)
However, Flagg suffered an ankle injury during Duke’s victory against Georgia Tech in the quarter -finals of the ACC tournament and missed the rest of the ACC tournament. Duke has always prevailed to win it.
Flagg returned to the injury during the dominant victory of Duke 93-49 on Mount St. Mary’s, number 16 and played 22 minutes, marking 14 points and recording seven rebounds, five assists and a block.
In 32-year-old, Flagg played 29 minutes in Duke 89-66’s victory against Baylor. Flagg collected 18 points, nine rebounds, six assists and a block in victory.
Duke will count on Flagg in Sweet 16, where the Blue Devils will face Arizona No. 4 Thursday at 9:40 p.m. HE.
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The Boston Celtic striker, Jayson Tatum (0), turned in front of the Kings of Sacramento Kings, Keon Ellis (23) in the second quarter in the Golden 1 center on March 24, 2025. (Edmondson / Imagn images)
Tatum, who played Duke for a season in 2016-2017, could not win a title in his only year of university basketball.
The native of St. Louis collected an average of 16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 interceptions and 1.1 blocks per match in 29 games. Tatum was the overall choice n ° 3 of the Celtics in the draft of the NBA 2017.
Tatum spent the eight seasons of his NBA career with the Celtics, was appointed to the star team six times and was a key cog in the Celtics round last season.
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