The Cooper Flagg prophecy is coming true as echoes of LeBron’s first NBA steps sound
From a magazine prophecy to a record-breaking night, Cooper Flagg’s rise invites inevitable comparisons with LeBron’s earliest NBA days.
On February 18, 2002, Sports Illustrated thrilled the basketball world with a 17-year-old prodigy whose early ambitions were already fixed on the very summit of the NBA.
Under the headline “The Chosen One,” the magazine introduced a kid from the rough neighborhoods of Akron, Ohio, who without even passing through the NCAA was being cast as the heir to Michael Jordan, whose final battles on the world’s most prestigious hardwoods were still to come.
The rest is history – and, like history itself, it appears to move in cycles. After more than two decades of dominance, LeBron James is preparing for his farewell. Despite still boasting an enviable physical presence, it has become clear that the end is approaching. And just as with His Airness, the King seemed destined to have a successor anointed well before setting foot in the NBA. Cooper Flagg officially emerged as the great hope of American basketball when Slam magazine put him on its cover in December 2023, and exactly one year later he has shown that prophecies can, indeed, come true.
Flagg passes LeBron before turning 18
During Monday’s December 15 loss to the Utah Jazz, the No. 1 pick in the most recent draft made one thing clear: it’s not how you start, but how you grow – and, of course, how you finish. After a modest opening stretch to his NBA career, Cooper Flagg raised doubts about the Mavericks’ decision, but as his performances gathered momentum he silenced much of the skepticism. At just 18, he has now surpassed LeBron James for the most points ever scored in a single game by a player of that age.
“On December 13, 2003, LeBron James made history by scoring 37 points at age 18. Twenty-two years later, a new 18-year-old has taken his place. Cooper Flagg’s 42 points now represent the most ever scored in league history by an 18-year-old player,” the NBA announced through its official channels.
Just five days shy of his 19th birthday, Flagg is already setting the tone for what his NBA career might look like. With the game against Utah, he reached 10 outings before turning 18 with 20 or more points. LeBron had 14 such games before his 19th birthday on December 30 – two additional weeks in which Flagg might well have caught him, too. Time played its part in that milestone, and it will do so again as the years pass and Flagg attempts to live up to the immense expectations and projections now placed upon him.
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