Nuggets Coach Talks About His First Impressions of Cooper Flagg

Cooper Flagg entered the league with sky-high expectations. Even though he came in as the youngest player in the league, he had LeBron James-level hopes for what he would be, even as a rookie. 

While the Dallas Mavericks have struggled mightily, Flagg has been pretty much as advertised. He is averaging 17 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. Pretty impressive for a kid. 

Denver Nuggets coach David Adelman recently praised Flagg for already living up to the hype. 

"I mean, what we thought he'd be. Probably the expectations were way too high, and then they had the injuries, and to have the ball in your hands immediately was probably not the plan. Not to mention with Kyrie (Irving) being out. I can't imagine how good he's going to be when he plays with a full and healthy team. I think their team is extremely underrated when healthy. I think they're going to be one of the better defensive teams in our league. When you have Kyrie, who can score as he does, and Cooper can be this multifaceted player he already is at 18 years old. The future is so bright for him. The thing I like the most about him is... he just plays so hard. He competes every night. In this league, you can't teach that part. The skill part and learning the league will come to him as he plays, but his future is extremely bright."

What has impressed people the most about Flagg is his competitiveness and hunger to be great. As Adelman said, effort and hustle aren’t skills you can teach. Flagg obviously has the body and skill to be great, but he also has the mentality to become a legend. If he continues to build up those skills and comfort in the NBA, Flagg is well on his way to greatness.