High school basketball sensation Cooper Flagg may be just 16 years old, but he’s already reportedly going toe-to-toe with NBA All-Stars… and talking trash while he does it.
Flagg, who turned heads at Nike’s Peach Jam tournament in July with otherworldly statlines that even drew attention from LeBron James, is rumored to have faced off with Phoenix Suns star Bradley Beal at Jayson Tatum Elite Camp. According to former NBA player Brian Scalabrine on SiriusXM NBA Radio, Flagg was “busting” Beal in the one-on-one matchup, and talked enough trash that Beal “started cussing him out.”
“This dude is a major trash-talker. … So I guess the rumor is that Brad Beal and him were squaring off 1-on-1 and Brad Beal was taking it lightly. It’s a high school kid. Then Cooper started giving it to him,” Scalabrine said. “And I guess the rumor is, Cooper started talking trash and Bradley Beal got mad. Really mad.”
Flagg, a Maine native, is currently the No. 2 player in the 2025 high school class per 247Sports, ranked behind only Carlos Boozer’s son Cameron. He averaged 25.4 points, 13.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game at Peach Jam, where his stock as a potential future No. 1 overall draft selection grew. Trash-talking an accomplished pro like Beal may be a bold choice, but Flagg has shown he won’t back down from anyone.
Meanwhile, some fans are pointing out that the story only adds to comparisons that have been drawn between Flagg and former Duke star Christian Laettner, who was also known for his trash talk.
Modern day Christian Laettner now loading… https://t.co/M3nfO4So89
— RŸLAN (@Rylan_MK) August 2, 2023
Christian Laettner
— Austin 🦆 → B1G or Big 12 (@deviousduck_) August 2, 2023
JJ Redick
Grayson Allen
Cooper Flagg https://t.co/9QZNaQBAp7
We’ll see if Flagg does in fact land at Duke, but stories like this only further build the legend of one of the most-hyped recruits in recent college basketball history.
