Don’t Look Now, But Cooper Flagg’s Ascension to Stardom Is Nigh

The NBA is a star-driven league and each season is defined by the remarkable heights those stars achieve. In anticipation of the upcoming 2026–27 season, we chose five players we believe will write the story of this campaign—the names that will echo throughout history when we look back on everything that is to come.

First up was Jayson Tatum, followed by Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards. Next: Cooper Flagg.

This NBA season is loaded with bright and shiny objects that not only attract but demand your attention.

LeBron formed his most absurd superteam yet by signing for the minimum to play for the 76ers! Giannis is the new avatar of Heat Culture! Wemby is coming for us all! Why did the Celtics do that? Why did the Timberwolves do that? Luka Lakers! Every pick of the 2026 draft will be a superstar! Remember the defending champion Knicks?

And that’s just to name a few of the brightest and shiniest. You can probably name a dozen more storylines that figure to shape the coming season. It’s the result of an NBA offseason that feels like a fever dream in retrospect, with tons of big names in new places. All occurring amid the league’s greatest parity era in decades.

Such a confluence of news and possibility leaves no shortage of topics to discuss. It also means some narratives are going under-acknowledged relative to how important they’re going to be.

Like, say, the rapid ascension of Cooper Flagg.

It’s a bit unusual to say as much given he was heralded as a generational prospect, went No. 1 in the draft, and then backed up all the hype by putting forward an awesome debut season that won him Rookie of the Year. But we really aren’t talking enough about him. Certainly not to the degree players of his ilk usually are.

When a top pick averages 20 points per game in his first NBA campaign, it’s usually the job of level-headed analysts to stave off the hordes of fans rushing to crown him the future of the league. Yet with Flagg, it seems more like any hype around what’s in store for his sophomore campaign has to be mustered up rather than organically bursting beyond what’s reasonable like we normally see. It’s an intangible concept, and you may not agree. But when surveying the national landscape for what fans and media are talking about, it’s impossible to deny the reality that Flagg just hasn’t been a primary talking point. He’s certainly been mentioned but when the guy everyone proclaimed as the second coming of LeBron actually kind of looked like LeBron as a rookie, you’d think we’d hear more about it!

Perhaps he is the victim of his own expectations, mountainous as they are. Perhaps the NBA world collectively dismissing the Mavericks as basketball’s version of the Cleveland Browns after the Luka Dončić trade plays a role in how much attention Flagg earns. Perhaps all young players today just have the misfortune of making their name while standing in Victor Wembanyama’s endless shadow.

There is no getting around the facts, though: Flagg was outstanding as a rookie, to such a degree we should be expecting him to broach the echelons of true NBA stardom in his second season.

Consider the following. As noted in Sports Illustrated’s top 10 players under 25 rankings, Flagg became only the fourth player in NBA history to put up a statline of 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists in his rookie season; the other three were Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird and Dončić. His is such a unique skillset that all of 10 players total were able hit those marks, including Flagg, across the league last year. It’s absurdly impressive even without taking into account context like his most-played-with teammate being Max Christie (12.3 points per game) or Dallas overhauling its roster a few times. Or, you know, not playing a single minute with the only star in his orbit, Kyrie Irving.

If all that feels cherry-picked or too broad for you, let’s get more granular by examining his virtuoso performance that came in April. Acknowledging that April regular-season basketball was not very competitive last season, Flagg still dropped 51 points against the Magic on 19-for-30 shooting and only seven free throws. It was still the first 50-burger by a rookie since Brandon Jennings in 2009 and his 63% shooting mark that night ranks second among the 15 50-point games by all rookies in recorded history. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had a more efficient 50-point game in his first season. Not that this matters as much as the other stuff in regards to projecting how his career will go, Flagg was also by far the youngest NBA player ever to hit 50 points.

In case it’s not yet clear, Flagg is freaking good. Not “good for a rookie” or “good for a main option on a bad team.” He is good no matter which way you slice it. And, obviously, still has quite a bit to improve on with merely one professional season under his belt. Flagg was a terrible three-point shooter, turned the ball over a lot and struggled to make impact plays as a defender. All weaknesses we expected to see coming into the NBA and nothing at all out of the ordinary for a rookie. Everything else was nothing short of extraordinary.

Think of the great Year 2 leaps we’ve seen from guys who performed on Flagg’s level as a rookie. Dončić leapt from 21 to 28 points per game and earned a top-five finish in MVP voting. LeBron enjoyed a similar statistical leap while increasing his efficiency by a huge amount. They elevated from good players capable of great nights to great players who were undeniably among the very best the NBA had to offer. Inescapable talents who could not be gameplanned for. Must-see TV. Box office. Pick your descriptor. You know the guys who have that it factor—and everything about Flagg’s first season is pointing towards him joining that group sooner rather than later.

It is definitely a crowded field for Flagg to break into with how many All-NBA talents grace the floor nowadays. The stars are aligning for him to do so, though. Irving’s return will give him a certified star scorer as a running mate and the ... uncomfortable, we’ll say, vibes around the organization post-Dončić trade have been swept away. Yet it’s still a young roster that will be playing on a cramped floor, which means there will be no place for Flagg to hide (again). He’ll be the main focus of the defense every night.

That didn’t stop him last year. So bet against the young Mavs star at your own risk. Flagg’s ascent to stardom is here—don’t miss the ride.

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