Cooper Flagg is trapped in a problem every all-time great has encountered

Cooper Flagg received the first technical foul of his career during a 30-point loss to the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, March 8. Late in the game, Flagg drove to the rim and appeared to take contact from two defenders — one bumping him on the right and another hitting his left arm as he went up for a layup. After the play, Flagg turned toward the referee and voiced his frustration before jogging back on defense. Moments later, as the exchange continued, he was assessed a technical foul.

Keeping composure is a massive trait for an NBA player, especially a star. Yet while Flagg’s frustration might remind some fans of Luka Doncic and his past complaints to officials, Flagg has reason to be upset. He’s dealt with a fairly severe rookie whistle, and it’s had a noticeable impact on his game.

Cooper Flagg’s free throw numbers look fine at first glance

All in all, Flagg still gets to the line. He leads all rookies in both free throws made and attempted, while his 4.5 made free throws per game rank 33rd among 250 qualified NBA players. His free-throw rate also isn’t poor, ranking 92nd in the league at 27.6 percent.

Yet those surface-level free-throw numbers don’t tell the whole story. Digging deeper into the data shows just how unfavorable Flagg’s whistle has been.

A deeper look at Cooper Flagg’s free throw problem

As a rookie, Flagg hasn’t been given a huge number of isolation possessions, but he still averages the 33rd-most in the NBA at 2.7 per game. Despite being just 19 and not known for elite shot creation (yet), he averages 0.93 points per isolation and scores on 45.1 percent of those plays.

However, the real outlier in Flagg’s isolation possessions is his free-throw frequency. Among the 50 players with the most isolation possessions per game, Flagg’s 14.3 free-throw rate ranks 26th. That’s not especially low on its own, but the numbers only get worse from there.

Rather than focusing on a specific play type, looking at overall drives makes Flagg’s lack of a whistle more apparent. The former Duke Blue Devil averages 12.3 drives per game, which ranks 27th in the NBA. On those drives, he averages 1.8 free throws, ranking 38th in the league — so the discrepancy isn’t all that significant at first glance.

Yet not all drives are created equal.

Some players use drives to break down defenses and facilitate for teammates, while others primarily look to score. At this stage of his career, Flagg clearly falls into the latter category. His 27.7 percent pass rate ranks 44th among the 50 players with the most drives in the NBA.

With that in mind, consider the players who average at least 6.0 field goals on drives per game. Among those 22 players, Flagg’s 1.8 free throws on drives ranks 21st — only ahead of Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets.

When accounting for Flagg’s 6-foot-9 frame, the next similarly sized player averaging fewer free throws on drives is Alperen Sengun of the Houston Rockets, who averages just 1.4 per game. However, Sengun averages only 8.9 drives and 4.9 field goals on those drives, both notably lower than Flagg’s totals.

Even when looking at other notable play types (ones that don’t always lead directly to a field goal attempt), Flagg’s low free-throw frequency still stands out. On pick-and-roll ball-handling possessions, for example, his 8.5 free-throw rate ranks 27th among the 33 players who average at least 6.0 such possessions per game.

There's still hope for Cooper Flagg

It’s a theme that may feel familiar to longtime NBA fans. Some of the league’s most physically imposing players have historically struggled to earn consistent foul calls, perhaps most notably LeBron James. Despite his relentless rim pressure throughout his career, James has averaged 10.0 or more free throw attempts per game in just three of his 23 professional seasons, and he hasn’t reached that mark since 2009–10.

Like Flagg, LeBron James also dealt with a version of the rookie whistle, averaging just 5.8 free-throw attempts per game in his inaugural campaign. There was a silver lining, however. James averaged 8.0 and then 10.3 free throw attempts per game in his second and third seasons. If that trajectory is any indication, there may still be hope for Flagg.

For now, Flagg’s whistle may lag behind his aggression. But the numbers show a rookie already comfortable attacking the paint against NBA defenses. And if players like James are any indication, the whistles tend to come with time.