Cooper Flagg doubters rise from the woodwork before he even plays an NBA game

While the Dallas Mavericks struggled in 2025 with trading away Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers and being eliminated in the Play-In Tournament by the Memphis Grizzlies, one college basketball player took the world by storm and is poised to change everything for Dallas. That was Duke's Cooper Flagg.

Flagg's one season at Duke helped him deserve the hype of being the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Heading into the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery, the Mavericks had a 1.8 percent chance to win it, in order to get the first pick to draft Flagg. However, the basketball gods blessed Dallas and gave them the first overall pick.

Since Flagg has been drafted, much-needed excitement is back in Dallas after a rough year. However, even with all the hype and talent on Flagg, his game is still being ignored and disrespected three years from now, when he can participate in a big event that was made for NBA legends.

Cooper Flagg snubbed from Team USA's projected Olympic roster

Playing in the Olympics and representing your country is a high honor for any athlete. In the 2024 Summer Olympics, Team USA's men's basketball team won the gold. As 2028 is three years from now, Flagg has already been forgotten about.

In a recent article written by Colin Ward-Henniger of CBS Sports, Flagg wasn't projected to make Team USA's roster for the 2028 Summer Olympics. Warn-Henniger's projected roster didn't feature LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry. Not having any of those three players on the squad can give Flagg a chance to crack a spot on the roster, especially with James likely retiring before then.

With the hype that Flagg had in his one year at Duke, it could be shocking if he isn't a superstar by 2028 and doesn't make Team USA's roster. Flagg recorded 19.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, over four assists, and over 1 block and steal per game in his one season at Duke. Flagg also shot solidly from the floor with shooting over 48 percent overall and 38.5 percent from three.

Two bigs who will be aging by 2028 are Joel Embiid and Flagg's new Mavericks teammate, Anthony Davis. Both players will be in their mid-30s. Both were projected to make the Olympic roster by CBS. Embiid, in particular, has battled injuries and missed a big chunk of games. That is where Flagg can potentially get a roster spot over Embiid with his size on the wing and now healthy body. If Davis' game drops in Dallas compared to being in Los Angeles, Flagg could have a case to make the roster over Davis if his game takes off as some executives already are projecting.

Two recent first overall picks were projected to make the team with 2021's first overall pick Cade Cunningham, and 2022's first overall pick, Paolo Banchero. While Cunningham raised his game with the Detroit Pistons as a guard, Banchero, being a forward like Flagg, could create controversy on who to add to the roster, as Flagg could be the better of the two players in three years.

Banchero recently played his third season in the NBA and averaged nearly 26 points per game. If Flagg is better by year three than Banchero was and is a better player in the NBA, it could be an edge for Flagg to get a spot on the roster over Banchero and show the world how dominant he really is.

2028 might not be thought about by many as of now, but most can expect Flagg to become a superstar by then. If Flagg is a superstar, it's hard for Team USA not to have him on the Olympic roster.