Jason Kidd does not hand out endorsements lightly. So when the Hall of Famer and Dallas Mavericks head coach was asked on the Dan Patrick Show whether he would rather have his own NBA career or Cooper Flagg's, the answer surprised even his hosts.
"Oh, I'm going to take Cooper Flagg's career," Kidd said. Reminded he is already a Hall of Famer himself, Kidd doubled down. "He's going to be one too. He's special. When you talk about being drafted at the age of 18 and now being 19, just the way he carries himself on and off the floor — his parents have done an incredible job of keeping him humble and hungry. I think his career is going to be way better than mine."
Kidd revealed that before fully committing to building Dallas around the No. 1 pick, he went straight to the two players he trusted most: Stephen Curry and LeBron James, both of whom had played alongside Flagg with Team USA.
"I asked two future Hall of Famers, Curry and LeBron, because he participated with Team USA. I wanted to know the truth," Kidd said. "And so I went to those two and asked them, can Cooper play? They both said he's very special."
The Mavs coach then put the same question to Flagg himself, just from the other direction.
"I had him over for dinner and I said, 'Hey, when you were Team USA, who were the hardest to guard?' And he brought up Curry and LeBron," Kidd recalled. "I was just like, yeah, those two are hard to guard. But he goes, 'They just knew exactly what was going to happen before it happened.' And I said, that just takes time."
Kidd faced criticism for handing point guard duties to Flagg early in the season alongside Kyrie Irving, but stood by the experiment as a long-term play.
"Sometimes we get caught up in the titles — point guard, point forward," he said. "It becomes basketball. Can you bring the ball up? Can you make plays? Decision-making. I thought for him you could see that he understood the game at a very high level at the age of 18. We were trying to think a little bit ahead. It worked out. It helped the process for next season and years to come, that we can rely on him getting us in an offense."
Asked who Flagg reminded him of, Kidd reached for one of college basketball's most legendary names. "He, you know, Kareem a little bit, a young Kareem at UCLA. Being so dominant. Doesn't have the skyhook, but just the athleticism, understands the game. He's one that's playing the game at a very high level — shoots the three, puts the ball on the floor, doesn't have to jump to dunk, doesn't have to jump to block shots."
Kidd also weighed in on the Western Conference, where his old colleagues at Oklahoma City sit four wins from a second straight title. Pressed on whether the Thunder are now a dynasty, Kidd was careful but pointed.
"This season, this playoff run, we'll be able to answer that question. If they are the last team standing, I would say yes," he said. "If they win another title, they're in that San Antonio Spurs type dynasty. Simple, not flashy. They play both sides of the ball, defensively and offensively. And then they have a star and the star is about the team. I would look at them more in that San Antonio dynasty."
For a Mavs team that traded Luka Doncic and rebuilt around an 18-year-old, Kidd's verdict on Flagg is the one that matters in Dallas. "The league with these young stars is in great hands," he said. "He's special."
