Kevin Love says he has a new phrase that he wants to live by: “Plant trees and watch ’em grow.” Consider Cooper Flagg one of Love’s next trees that might not need too much help growing. Love and Flagg are in the middle of a quick, but deserved, media tour. Flagg was named the Gatorade Best Male Player of the Year award at the 2024 ESPYs on Thursday, a feat Love accomplished back in 2007. It’s just the start for Flagg, the coveted Duke signee, whose brand is only blowing up even more after a jaw-dropping showing against a LeBron James, Stephen Curry-led Team USA club that is the favorite to take gold at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
“Oh, he will translate,” Love told CBS Sports. “Just playing against future Hall of Famers, some of the guys who are some of the greatest players of all time and the most decorated players of this generation and certainly the best. He’s very poised for his age. Speaking of his demeanor, he studies the game. You can tell he has great people around him, great teammates that he cares for and that helps you and translates in any situation. That’s the beauty of this award and it’s not just a basketball award. It’s in the community, it’s something that’s only going to help him in Duke and beyond.”
The 17-year, NBA veteran and the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft grew up on opposite coasts, but they’ve bonded over their love and appreciation for one of the NBA’s all-time teams: the 1985-86 Boston Celtics. Love will go down as one of the best outlet passers in the history of the game, but he emulated the late, great Bill Walton who won Sixth Man of the Year for Boston. Flagg is a born-and-bred Celtics fan. Growing up in Newport, Maine, he didn’t have much of a choice.
“We’d have a couple-hour drive for AAU tournaments and our little Chrysler van had a movie projector that would come down the middle and we’d pop in 85-86 Celtics the whole championship run and watch game by game, playing the whole thing over and over again,” Flagg told CBS Sports. “I think the way they played, the way they got the ball out quickly, moved it down the court, the selflessness and unselfishness on that team of just accepting a role, doing the right things, putting your body on the line, it kind of embodies what a good team has to have. Everyone has to sacrifice something. Playing the game the right way will get you a lot farther than trying to do things you can’t or don’t help…
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