Cooper Flagg in Summer League action (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The smile formed on Dirk Nowitzki’s face as he saw the significant reason why the Dallas Mavericks suddenly feel in high spirits following the controversial Luka Dončić trade.
Nowitzki saw Cooper Flagg, the Mavericks’ No. 1 pick, at his charity fundraiser to benefit children facing various financial and medical hardships.
“There he is!” Nowitzki said to Flagg as he approached him. “How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good,” Flagg said before quickly embracing Nowitzki with a hug.
And why wouldn’t Flagg be? He enters the NBA as a favorite to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award because of his two-way versatility, professionalism, and work ethic. After Nowitzki played all 21 seasons of his NBA career with Dallas en route to an NBA championship (2011), a Finals MVP (2011), a regular-season MVP (2007), and 14 All-Star appearances, the Mavericks’ most iconic star showed genuine interest in Flagg’s off-season itinerary and preparation for his rookie season.
Matt MacKenzie, Flagg’s trainer, told RG.org that Nowitzki also expressed an openness to train together during the season, however Cooper and the Mavericks see fit. In an extensive interview, MacKenzie delved into how Nowitzki can help mentor Flagg, how Flagg has prepared to play during Kyrie Irving’s absence and his eventual return from an ACL injury. MacKenzie also dished on Flagg’s NBA2K playing habits and why Flagg isn’t consumed with any individual awards, including the Rookie of the Year honors.
Editor’s note: The following one-on-one interview has been edited and condensed.
Interview with Matt MacKenzie
– I saw that Cooper was able to meet up with Dirk at his event. Were you able to be a part of that?
– I was not. I was in Dallas that week, but I went back to Maine just a couple of days before the weekend. Cooper had to get his wisdom teeth taken out. So I came back to Maine. We were hopeful that he was going to be able to recover quickly so he could be at Dirk’s event. I know it was very important for him to be there not only to support Dirk, but to continue to build that relationship. Obviously, he has a ton of respect for Dirk Nowitzki and his career and what he meant to Dallas. So he wanted to make sure he could make an appearance, even if it was just for a short time this past weekend. I was hopeful that I could’ve been there. But it was just Cooper. He said that it was a good time and he was feeling just good enough to spend some time with Dirk and his people.
– From Cooper’s end, what came out of it?
– It went great. Any time that he has an opportunity to spend time and pick the brain of a legend like Dirk, I think that it’s going to be incredibly valuable. He has an incredible respect for Dirk and the career that he’s had and what he’s meant to the city of Dallas. For Cooper to be able to lean on somebody like Dirk as a mentor is very valuable. So I know that he enjoyed being a part of enjoying Dirk’s event. He said that he had the opportunity to talk with him for a while. He shared some excitement for the upcoming season. Dirk pretty much let him know that he’s always there for him, whether it’s for encouragement and support and also if there is ever a time to spend time on the court together and pick up on little things. That’s always a possibility. I think Dirk just wants to be able to help him be the best version of himself and just be somebody that he knows he can reach out to. Obviously, Dirk did it for so many years right in Dallas. So having somebody like that in his corner means a lot to Cooper.
– Dirk said a lot of nice things publicly about Cooper and his game. But for Dirk to set the tone and say that he’s open to working out with Cooper, what do you expect that can do for his game in his rookie season?
– I think any time you have the opportunity to pick the brain of a legend like Dirk, it’s going to be valuable. Even if you can just pick a couple of small nuances or details from somebody like that, whether it’s regard to his footwork, his angles or how he uses his body to create separation, there’s always little things Cooper can learn from somebody like that. With Dirk having that experience in Dallas and being so successful and being able to navigate the organization, the city and the pro in that city is helpful. Both on and off the court, Dirk is somebody that can be incredibly valuable to Cooper’s development moving forward.
– What can Cooper learn from Dirk in those nuances you mentioned with the footwork, the angles, and body separation?
– Yeah, and the balance. Dirk made a career out of being able to find small degrees of separation to get his shot off. He did a wonderful job with not only making a patent move in his little fade, but his used his body really well. He had incredible footwork. He had incredible balance. I think he played the game with incredible IQ. Cooper is someone that I consider to be a basketball junkie and a savant. I think he would be able to benefit to pick Dirk’s brain and just be able to ask him some questions with regards to his approach and dive into some of the smaller details like things he did to work on with his balance, his footwork and his posture and his positioning as he navigates his own positional development in the league.
– I know it’s just a video game. But Ronnie 2K said that Cooper has played NBA2K26 as himself with Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving to help him prepare for the season. How do you view that?
– I saw that. I’ll say that Cooper has enjoyed playing with NBA2K during his downtime. He loves to get on the games. Lately, 2K has been his preferred game of choice. However, I think it’s more so a way for him to unwind and do something other than playing and working out. It’s another thing that he can do in his off time. I wouldn’t read too far into it in regards to him actually building chemistry with his future teammates by playing NBA2K. I think it’s more that he enjoys the game just like most 18-year-old kids do. He’s having fun playing and playing as himself and playing as the Dallas Mavericks. So I don’t think it’s anything with him revolutionizing the sport by using film study by playing NBA2K.
– Outside of 2K, since summer league ended, what has Cooper’s preparation looked like?
– He has spent a number of hours in the weight room. He has really enjoyed getting to know the new Mavs strength coach and his team. I know that he’s been incredibly dialed in to the sports performance side of things. He’s really getting his body ready for what will end up being a very long season. He wants to make sure that he is doing his best to prevent possible injuries. He wants to make sure that he is in a good place with his sports performance training. That’s where he’s put a lot of his emphasis.
From a skills standpoint, he’s been spending a ton of time on the court with me and my team as well as the Dallas Mavericks’ assistant coaches. He’s really getting acclimated on what the expectations are going to be with him and within their offense. So he’s had a chance to dive into some film study. He has been really working on improving the time it takes to be able to get off clean 3s. He’s really been working on some different two-man games with different players on the Mavs team. So he’s really trying to ramp things up as we get closer to the season. He’s making sure that his body, his mind and his skillset is truly prepared for what the 82-game season plus playoffs is going to look like.
– What are the drills you can share that Cooper has done to address those various buckets you outlined with injury prevention, sports performance, the 3-point work, and two-man work?
– In terms of injury prevention, he’s spending a lot of time working on his flexibility and mobility using his [resistance] bands. He’s incorporated hot yoga into his routine. He’s spending a lot of time doing basketball-specific weight training that will really allow him to be at his best in terms of being able to withstand contact and being able to play with force. So his body looks really good right now. He looks ready to go. He’s put on some really good lean muscle onto his frame. I’m highly encouraged by that.
In terms of his on-court work, I think he’s continued to do a really good job with improving the tightness of his handle. I feel confident in his development as a shooter. He’s been able to work on catching the ball with clean hands and being able to get off his shot a little bit quicker out of the catch-and-shoot as well as being able to find different ways he can create separation for his shot off the dribble.
In terms of different actions, he’s spending some time with the coaching staff as well as myself just to kind of review common actions that he’s probably going to play through and getting acclimated to those. Not only is he watching film. But he’s also repping them out in our training sessions. I think the biggest thing for him is once he gets into training camp, him being able to play amongst some of the guys that he will play with and some of the different lineups is going to take some time. It’s going to take a little bit of time to really get the timing once he’s on the floor with those guys. But we’re doing our best really to try to simulate what we can predict what some of those actions might be and just getting him more comfortable as a ball handler in the pick-and-roll.
I pretty much went over the primary things. But that’s where we spend the majority of our time right now. Like I always have done, it’s always about finding different ways to challenge him. So a lot of the times what we’ll do to finish out games, I’ll put a target score and put a constraint on the situation. He’s doing a really good job navigating through those. Cooper has really enjoyed the process. He’s in a good headspace. He’s really excited for training camp to get started. I know that he had the opportunity to get up and down and play some pickup with the other guys on the Mavs team last week. He felt really good being able to get up and down and play offense vs defense. So we’re ramping things up. I know he’s really excited and ready to go come training camp at the end of September.
The biggest thing to highlight is that he’s had a really good experience getting acclimated in Dallas. He’s really getting acclimated with the team staff and facilities. He’s really enjoying settling into that city. As he’s getting to know some coaches and teammates, he’s so excited for everybody else to join ahead of training camp.
– Knowing that Cooper is both a special player and is receiving a lot of hype and high expectations, how do you and him view what would constitute a successful rookie season?
– For Cooper, his No. 1 goal is to be able to help his team win games. So as long as he can play a valuable role and impact winning for the Dallas Mavericks, he’s going to be happy. He doesn’t spend a lot of time in getting caught up in individual accolades. He feels as though as long as he plays his game, lets his instincts take control and really prepares for the games the way he knows how to, those individual accolades will work themselves out. His biggest thing is being able to help his team have success. I know he’s very encouraged by the roster that he has in place right now. He’s excited for the season and to be able to match up with other teams.
What his role will end up shaping out to be might take a little bit of time. It could evolve over the course of the season. He knows that. But he’s going to do his best to be the best version of himself every time he steps on the floor and really just continue to be somebody who is really adaptable and somebody who can do whatever it takes to help his team win. I think when he looks back on his rookie season and he can reflect, the one thing he’ll want to be able to say is that he was able to make the greatest impact on the Mavs’ team success as he possibly could his rookie year.
– I presume the work you outlined is tied partly to the fluidity with Cooper’s role, playing without Kyrie to start the season, and playing without Kyrie once he returns. What do you expect that work will do to help Cooper be prepared to play both with and without Kyrie?
– It goes back to the same message that we’ve always talked about. That is, ‘You want to make sure that you are as versatile and as ready for any situation that may be thrown your way. So if we can really hone in on improving your entire skillset and continuing to help you become the most complete player possible, you’re going to be in a really good position. That’s exactly what he has continued to do – going back and looking at past game film of the end of his season at Duke and obviously at summer league and just trying to figure out, ‘What are some things that I can continue to improve on to be as ready as I can be for this rookie season?’
So it’s about tightening up that handle. It’s about understanding that he’s going to have some ball-handling responsibilities early in the season. So it’s about making sure that he’s confident and ready for that. We talked a lot about how confidence comes through preparation. In order for him to be as confident as he possibly can be in game one, we have to make sure that we prepare appropriately. He’s done a very good job of preparing appropriately up to this point.
– I understand your point that Cooper’s main source of motivation is team success. But knowing the competitor that he is, how do you expect Cooper will meet the challenge when he matches up against another top rookie or an NBA star throughout his rookie season?
– I think it’s going to be a process for him. I think he’s going to learn along the way just like any rookie would. He understands that he’s not going to be perfect, and that he probably is going to have some highs and some lows throughout his rookie season just like any rookie would. But he has a really good support system in place. He trusts those that are closest to him. He has a really strong relationship that he’s built so far with the Mavericks organization as well as some of his coaches and teammates. We know that with their help and guidance that he’s ready to go for his rookie season. Obviously being the competitor that he is, he’s going to want to win every single game. But I think that as he goes through the season that he’s going to figure out that, obviously he might not win every game, but how can he continue to be his best every single night and put his team in the best position to win all of those games throughout the year?
– I remember when we last talked after summer league that he’s going to manage a camp back in Maine. How did it all go?
– Camp went great. There were about 720 kids through two sessions. It was a really good opportunity for Cooper to come home and get in front of so many young kids that look up to him. He’s such a great rolemodel and ambassador for the state of Maine. So I thought things went really well. He was happy to come back and give back to the community that has poured into him for so many years. We think it’s important for him to be able to come back and do that every summer, if he can.
– What were his main messages both with basketball and in general to the kids?
– The biggest message that he tries to pass along to the young kids in Maine is that it doesn’t really matter where you come from. If a small-town kid from Newport, Maine can work and be the No. 1 overall pick, anybody can. So for these kids that come from Maine and really haven’t had a rolemodel to look up to that had done something like that before, now they have one. Now I think he’s going to continue to use that message to spread across our state and players that really look up to him.
It doesn’t really matter where you come from. It’s all about the work that you put in to continue to really challenge yourself. Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone to be able to get to those places and continue to dream big. I think that was his No. 1 message to kids. He did a really good job giving that message.
He did a really good job with being hands on with getting himself out there. I think that a lot of times with these pro camps that you often see the player do the minimum. That was not the case at all with Cooper. He was there, engaging with kids and playing one-on-one. He was really showing them that he wanted to be there and that he felt a lot of pride in coming back to his roots to run a camp like that.