Dirk Nowitzki Reveals His Role With Cooper Flagg

Cooper Flagg already has one of the greatest players in Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki history firmly in his corner.

After a Rookie of the Year campaign that saw Flagg establish himself as a franchise cornerstone, Dirk Nowitzki revealed he has remained in regular contact with the 19-year-old and is willing to help whenever needed.

“We met a few times. We’re obviously in contact,” Nowitzki said, according to DLLS Sports’ Abby Jones. “I write him when I see something. He knows that I’m in his corner. I want him to succeed and do well. He’s so far ahead of the curve already. But if there’s anything that he ever needs, I’m more than happy to help.”

Flagg averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game during his rookie season, despite Dallas finishing with the fourth-worst record in the Western Conference.

The Mavericks now enter a new chapter with head coach Dustin May taking over and Kyrie Irving returning after missing last season with an ACL injury.

Nowitzki is particularly interested to see how everything comes together under May and what a Flagg-Irving pairing could look like.

“We’ll have to wait and see how they all come together, obviously, with the new coach, with a new system, and a new coach,” Nowitzki said, according to NBA insider Marc Stein. “How is he going to transition? I’ve heard great things about him: about his leadership, about his work ethic, about how he approaches and talks to the guys. I think he’ll be loved by the players. But it’ll be interesting to see. What kind of plays is he running? What kind of system is he establishing — how does he want to play? But the big thing is, obviously, Kyrie coming back after a whole year off.

“I’ve seen some clips on social media in the last few weeks. He looks great. He looks shifty. He still looks explosive. To see Kyrie with Coop sharing the court will be super, super exciting. He kept some veterans around. He got some new players. You need to have Lively healthy, obviously; that’s a big key. But I think they got some nice pieces. If they execute well with Kyrie and Coop on the court, that could be a dangerous combo.”