Cooper Flagg seizes Rookie of the Year moment to defend Jason Kidd amid fan scrutiny

Cooper Flagg became the third player in the history of the Dallas Mavericks to win the Rookie of the Year award. Jason Kidd and Luka Doncic were the other two, and it means extra for Kidd, knowing he's now the head coach in a full-circle moment with his 19-year-old soon-to-be superstar.

The Mavs missed the playoffs two seasons in a row thanks to general manager Nico Harrison starting the domino effect by trading away Luka Doncic. That's what most fans will remember, which triggered the rebuild that didn't need to happen. Since uncovering more details about the most shocking trade in NBA history, Kidd has been under scrutiny recently, as conflicting reports have indicated that Kidd was involved in the trade.

Mark Cuban says Kidd was involved, but Kidd says he didn't know anything until right before the trade was finalized. Either way, the ROTY award hopes to cool things down with Kidd and the Mavs fanbase, and Flagg made sure to thank his head coach in the process.

Why Cooper Flagg believes Jason Kidd is the perfect coach for him

"J-Kidd is just the ultimate player's coach," Flagg said. "He was there for me from day one. We started building that relationship. But I think it just starts with him knowing the game at an extremely high level...He reads the game at an incredible level and pace. Just having that and learning from him, and kind of picking his brain on what he's seeing out there, and trying to put me in the right spots, I think helped me learn a lot about the game really quick."

Flagg is right on one note here. It's that Kidd has always been a natural player-coach. There's a lot of trust that goes into the coach and a player on the court. The fact that Flagg has already built a strong rapport with his head coach, given how young he is, says everything fans need to know about Kidd being the perfect coach for him.

Kidd helped develop Doncic into a true MVP candidate. The difference from Rick Carlisle to Doncic is that he became the player to use his skills more intelligently and not have to be the hero every night. Even though he's not a Maverick anymore, Kidd can absolutely take credit for developing the Slovenian superstar to what he is today.

Flagg may see Kidd in a different role soon

Recent reports have claimed Kidd isn't out of the picture as the next Mavericks GM. It's not to say that he's not qualified for the job, but if Cuban's words are true, and he had a hand in the Doncic trade, fans will see that as the opposite of cleaning house from the Doncic trade.

So much change has happened in just Flagg's rookie season. From the firing of Harrison to the Anthony Davis trade, Rookie of the Year is almost the sigh of relief Flagg needed for his season to end just to get a break from the outside noise.

Flagg clearly loves Kidd as his head coach, so if he ends up moving to a GM role, we've got to ask how the ROTY would feel about another major transition in his young career. It's not out of the picture, but Flagg clearly loves Kidd as his head coach.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow