Kyrie Irving is apparently serving as a hands-on mentor for his fellow No. 1 overall pick.
The Dallas Mavericks star Irving has become a “personal coach” of sorts to rookie teammate Cooper Flagg. Veteran NBA reporter Sam Amico made that revelation during an episode this week of “Full Court Cleveland.”
“Kyrie has turned into Cooper Flagg’s personal coach,” said Amico. “He is up there all the time and encouraging [Flagg], building him up. ‘Forget the mistakes. Do this.’
“It is so beneficial to a young player to have almost like a personal coach who is an NBA All-Star year after year,” Amico added.
The nine-time All-Star Irving, 33, is still sidelined as he recovers from the torn ACL that he suffered last March. As a result, the Mavericks are very thin right now in the backcourt and have asked the 18-year-old rookie Flagg, who is a natural forward, to serve as their starting point guard in Irving’s absence.
Flagg’s play has been a bit shaky thus far as he is averaging 13.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game on 39/31/100 shooting splits in the early going for the 2-5 Mavericks. The former National College Player of the Year also recently sent a message to his critics amid the rough start to his professional career.
But on the bright side, Flagg has a very fitting mentor in Irving, a longtime point guard who also went to Duke University. While Irving might not necessarily be back on the court any time soon, he is at least making his presence felt in some other ways for the Mavericks in the meantime.
