The 2025 NBA draft has arrived and former Duke superstar Cooper Flagg is almost a lock to be the first player to hear his name called when the Dallas Mavericks make the first pick on Wednesday night. But Flagg's journey from top high school basketball prospect to Naismith Trophy winner to presumptive top pick in the NBA draft can't be told without a fateful decision the 18-year-old made two summers ago.
In August of 2023, Flagg reclassified from the 2025 recruiting class to the 2024 class, instantly making him the then-early favorite to be selected first overall in the 2025 draft.
Flagg, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, explained why he made such a decision—which set him up to be the youngest No. 1 NBA draft pick since LeBron James in 2003—using an absolutely cold quote from his mother Kelly.
Cooper Flagg, 18, on why he reclassified to graduate high school in three years and position himself as the youngest No. 1 NBA Draft pick since LeBron James: “A quote my mom likes to say a lot: ‘If you’re the best player in the gym, then you need to find a new gym.’” pic.twitter.com/k2D3XsKCv2
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) June 24, 2025
"A quote my mom likes to say a lot—'If you're the best player in the gym, then you need to find a new gym.' So for me it was thinking about what I had left to do in high school, and how much that would push me to become a better player. So for me, that decision wasn't too hard.
"I kind of knew that we were going to have a really, really good team and then the next year would kind of be the fall off of the competition and things like that, so I kind of just made the decision based on that. I felt like it was time for me to get to a new environment and push myself to higher levels.”
From the hardwoods at Nokomis Regional High School and Montverde Academy, to the Nike EYBL Peach Jam courts to the practice court scrimmage against future Hall of Famers on Team USA to finally, the courts at Duke University and on campuses across the country, all Flagg has been doing is finding new gyms and leveling up.
Once he hears his name called on Wednesday night, he'll be taking his talents to the most elite basketball gyms in the world.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cooper Flagg Used Epic Quote From His Mom to Explain Decision to Reclassify in HS.
