If Cooper Flagg declares for the draft of the NBA, he would immediately become the favorite to be the first global choice.
However, Flagg said he wanted to come back, and the longest selection wants him to do that exactly.
Larry Johnson, the first overall choice of NBA 1991 draft, said that Flagg should remain “another year” in Duke.
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Duke Blue Devils Cooper Flagg striker cuts the net after winning the 2025 ACC championship match against the Cardinals of Louisville at the Spectrum Center. (Jim Dedmon / Imagn images)
“It is difficult to refuse this money when you know that you are going to be n ° 1, but it is in a big program, Duke,” Johnson told TMZ Sports.
“To return to Duke and spend a year more, bring them back a little more.
Johnson also rejected the idea that Flagg would risk an injury if he stayed in college, which could affect his draft.
“You can hurt yourself to do anything,” he said.
Johnson had the opportunity to go out on a good note. He was on his way to the NBA after winning the national championship with UNLV in 1990, but he returned for one more year.
Duke Blue Devils Cooper Flagg’s striker reacts in the second half to the Dean E. Smith Center. (Bob Donnan / Imagn images)
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The return for its last year has not changed its path much. He always went first in Charlotte’s Hornets the following season.
Although his rebels lose in the Final Four in his last season with the team, Johhson had no regrets.
“Heck no,” he said.
In February, Flagg said he wanted[ed] To come back “to Duke.
“I want to come back next year,” said the first year. “I always feel like a child. This is the only way I have ever known the university. This is how I see it. I really couldn’t know what children were feeling before, and if it feels different, if it looks more like a professional. I mean, it is the same thing for children in high school, too, I am paid a lot of money. I don’t know.”
Duke’s Cooper Flagg’s head coach (2) High-Fives Jon Scheyer during the second half against the state of North Carolina in Durham, NC, January 27, 2025. (AP photo / ben mckeown)
Flagg and the Blue Devils will face Houston in the last four on Saturday at 8:49 p.m. he in San Antonio.
Flagg, who came back from an ankle injury he suffered in the ACC tournament, is on average 19.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists in the tournament, figures similar to what he published during the regular season.
