Duke’s Cooper Flagg: A somewhat rare bird who dominates the floor

NEWARK — The story of Cooper Flagg’s spectacular season is unique, but there are things we can use to frame it up a little. There is a feeling about it that makes one reminisce about Kevin Durant or Anthony Davis. There is a look about it that reminds of Larry Bird.

From the moment that Flagg arrived for his freshman season at Duke, he commanded the national spotlight and he has held it the whole way, right up to the No. 1-seeded Blue Devils’ East Region semifinal game against No. 4 Arizona Thursday night at Prudential Center. The consensus No. 1 pick in the coming NBA Draft has been the biggest story all season.

There were other potentially good stories that might have eclipsed him, but ultimately didn’t. Connecticut’s opened the season with a chance to win a third straight national championship — then it lost three games at the Maui Invitational before November was done. The rebirth of St. John’s in Rick Pitino’s second season grew into a national story when the Red Storm cracked the AP Top 10 in early February, but their season ended last weekend.

The last two freshmen that captivated a nation of college basketball fans for an entire season were Kevin Durant for Texas in 2006-07 and Anthony Davis for Kentucky in 2011-12. They were must-see players and both finished the season as the consensus national Player of the Year, just as Flagg likely will. Of course, Durant was only able to take his team to the NCAA Tournament second round while Davis’ Wildcats won the national title.

Flagg grew up in Maine and spent countless hours watching videos of the Bird playing with the Celtics. He has tried — awfully successfully — to craft his game after the Hall of Famer. So the comparisons that get drawn are about more than his 6-9 height and complexion.

“Yeah, obviously I grew up watching old Larry Bird videos and stuff like that — the 1985-86 Celtics team and their championship that year,” Flagg said Wednesday after Duke held an open practice. “Obviously, it’s really cool to hear people say that. He’s a legend, so it gives me a lot of confidence and it’s just a big compliment.

“The comparisons?” he added “I don’t really have too much to say on how I compare to him or not. I don’t really compare myself to anybody. I just try and be my own player.”

He should just keep doing what he’s doing. Flagg went into Thursday’s contest leading the Blue Devils in every offensive category with averages of 18.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Certainly that’s Bird-esque.

But wait, there’s more. Flagg is also Duke’s top defender. He was averaging 1.3 blocked shots and 1.4 steals, also both team highs. And it might be the most underrated part of his game. Bird was part of a good team defense but wasn’t really considered an exceptional one-on-one defender.

While it might be difficult to single out what Flagg does best, it’s even harder to identify his weaknesses. Or really any weakness in his game.

“Cooper obviously is a huge part of what we do with every aspect,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “Defense in particular, his length, and then his instincts . . . he closes that window quick when somebody does have a (scoring) opportunity. . . . The thing he’s done great this year, though, is guard the ball. So he’s a guy that can guard 1 through 5, but his defensive instincts off the ball have been a huge part of what we’ve done on the defensive end.

Asked what he liked best about playing on the defensive end, Flagg replied, “I think just being able to get energy from players blocking shots, getting steals and those type of plays lead to kind of easier offense. . . . I think even for us as a team in general, we just take pride and enjoy helping each other out, having each other’s backs. It’s just about being connected and playing together.”

Flagg momentarily turned pro and college basketball fans upside down last month when he gave an interview to The Athletic that included him saying of Duke “I want to come back.”

Perhaps that didn’t initially sound impossible. Now that college players can earn NIL money, something pretty lucrative could be assembled. And he already has huge endorsement deals with New Balance and AT&T Wireless — perhaps you’ve caught the commercials he starts at timeouts during the NCAA Tournament.

But Flagg is not going back to the Blue Devils. He will wear the uniform of the team lucky enough to the win the NBA Draft Lottery. Scheyer made sure that was clear when he said, “Cooper is about to move on with something incredibly special with the next step he’s going to go after this.”

What we’ve been seeing all season? That seems incredibly special, too.