Cooper Flagg looks tiny standing next to 7-foot Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki

Cooper Flagg is the present and future of the Dallas Mavericks. He just met the past in legend Dirk Nowitzki and looked surprisingly small next to him.

Nowitzki played all 21 of his NBA seasons with the Mavericks before retiring in 2019. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023. Dirk won one MVP award in his career, and brought the Mavs their only championship in 2011 when he led the team past the LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh, Miami Heat squad. He was the Finals MVP of that series.

Flagg, 18, out of the Duke Blue Devils is the No. 1 overall draft pick and comes with Nowitzki-like hype.

The two linked up where the 7-foot Nowitzki towered over the 6-foot-9 Flagg.

That just shows why Nowitzki was a nightmare matchup who could shoot over anyone and had a killer one-legged fadeaway jumper that was literally unstoppable.

Mavericks fans can only hope Flagg has the career Nowitzki did. The 47-year-old Dirk still looks like her could get out there and dominate.

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