Duke Star Cooper Flagg Gets Visit From Future NBA Hall Of Famer

As a veteran, Kevin Love has embraced a mentor presence with the Miami Heat.

Love has been a member of the Heat for two years and amid his seven-game absence, he is expanding his presence to the world of college basketball.

The Duke Blue Devils have been training at the Miami Heat practice facility prior to Tuesday's matchup against the Miami Hurricanes. Led by potential 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, the Blue Devils are ranked as the No. 2 team in the nation.

Flagg and Love have similar archetypes as basketball players. The five-time All-Star paid the prospect and his impressive college basketball team a visit during their training session in Miami.

Kevin Love in attendance yesterday to watch the Cooper Flagg and Duke practice at the Heat practice facility yesterday 👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/1jZKDtFTfP
— Heat Culture (@HeatCulture13) February 25, 2025

This is not the first interaction between the basketball stars. Last summer prior to Flagg's enrollment at Duke, Love shared advice to the young 6'9" forward.

This season, Flagg is averaging 19.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting 48.6 percent from the field. He looks to help lead the Blue Devils to their first championship since 2015.

Love is averaging 5.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and one assist while shooting a career-low 35 percent from the field. He has only played in 19 games this season.

Love is set to return to the team for Wednesday's home matchup against the Atlanta Hawks after missing time due to personal reasons. He has not seen the floor since Feb. 5. His return comes at a time where the Heat move past the Jimmy Butler era and hope to sneak into the playoffs. The Heat currently hold the No. 9 seed with a 26-30 record.

HASLEM ON CELTICS FEUD

Even after retirement, Udonis Haslem continues to publicly reflect on his historic career.

Haslem was a member of the Miami Heat for 20 straight seasons, facing off against different generations of basketball superstars. The Heat and Boston Celtics were rival teams throughout the 2000s when Haslem was an integral piece of the rotation. Among the rival stars, the Celtics were led by Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

On a recent appearance on former NBA stars Zach Randolph and Tony Allen's podcast, Out the Mud, Haslem reflected on his feud with the Celtics.

"My beef is not with the current Celtics," Haslem said. "Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, I got a number of love for them boys. And my beef ain’t even with certain people that played for the Celtics. And I’m gonna tell you right now I can say this on TV: My beef ain’t even with Kevin Garnett. He said something the other day and I was like 'You know what? Me and KG, cool.' You know what I'm saying? That's real. Paul Pierce? We gonna have to figure that out."

When Tony Allen offered to help squash the beef, Haslem responded, "I agree a thousand percent, but I’m gonna say this man, I just come from a place where you just can’t say what you want to say to people. That comes consequences with that. And they got to a point sometimes where they used to say things on the court to people I just didn’t think it was okay."

Pierce made his presence known on the court over his 20-season career. He is notorious for his intense work ethic on the court and has been called 'arrogant' by many in NBA circles. That mindset, along with 10 All-Star appearances and a champonship ring, helped earn him a spot in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.

HEAT AMONG BETTING FAVORITES TO LAND ANTETOKOUNMPO

After this month's blockbuster Jimmy Butler trade, the Miami Heat are ready to move on from the Butler era.

Earlier this week, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Giannis Antetokounmpo prefers to stay in Milwaukee, but could force his way out if the Bucks don't see long-term success.

The Miami Heat have the third-best odds to acquire him at +600 if traded, just behind the New York Knicks at +400 and the Brooklyn Nets at +450 according to Bovada.

The Heat are no strangers to being involved in blockbuster trade discussions. In the summer of 2023, the Heat were one of few teams reportedly deep in the Damian Lillard sweepstakes.

Antetokounmpo has been named an All-Star every season since 2017. He has also added two Most Valuable Player awards along with a 2021 championship to his resume. The 2013 first-round pick from Greece has established himself as one of the most dominant players in the NBA. This season, he is averaging a career-high 31.5 points, 12.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists while shooting 61 percent from the field. Even with these impressive statistics, he is shooting a career-low 17 percent from beyond the arc at three-point range.

If Antetokounmpo joins Miami, the Heat would become one of the strongest contenders in the Eastern Conference. Keeping stars like Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo would be ideal in creating a new, strong trio in Miami but Antetokounmpo's price tag could be extremely hefty.

The league continues to be shocked by the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade earlier this month and Antetokounmpo could very well be one of the next superstars to be on the move.

Sean Jordan is a contributor to Miami Heat On Sports Illustrated. He can be reached at sjorda06@syr.edu.

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