Hearing Cooper Flagg Talk About How He Knew He Would Make The NBA While Watching The 2017 Draft At 10 Years Old Will Make You Feel Old As Shit
One thing I think most people can agree on is that it can sometimes be hard to come to grips with getting old. You can try and fight it as long as you can, but Father Time eventually comes for us all.
I'd also say that nothing truly makes you feel old as shit quite like sports. Sometimes you get that feeling when you realize it's time to hang up your shoes/cleats and can no longer participate in your adult league that everyone takes way too seriously. Sometimes it's while watching a game you see a player that's the kid of a guy who you remember watching growing up. That one really hits you square in the dick if we're being honest. Your brain can't really comprehend how much time has passed and the feeling is never great.
Then of course there's a situation like Cooper Flagg talking about when he knew he was going to basically be a basketball prodigy and make the NBA
I dare anyone to watch that clip and not immediately feel old as shit. It's impossible. Maybe it's because I've grown accustomed to people answering this type of question with like, the 1996 Draft, or the 2003 Draft, things that aligned with my childhood and adolescence, but there's something about hearing a kid talk about the 2017 Draft and being 10 years old that just makes me insanely old.
Maybe it's partially due to how our brains collectively melted and time no longer existed post-Covid, but 2017 feels like it was two seconds ago. I'd argue that 2020-24 may as well be 6 months. Everything has sort of blended together in my brain that while I know 2017 was 7 years ago and this is all normal for a college freshman to be 10 years old during that time, that doesn't make the reality of it any easier to stomach.
I thought maybe Flagg was going to say watching older Drafts in high school or something on YouTube which wouldn't be as bad, but nope. He knew when he was 10. I have no idea what I was dreaming/thinking when I was 10 in 1997, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't solidifying the belief that I was going to actually be able to make the NBA. I guess that's the difference between a washed up blogger and the soon to be #1 pick in the 2025 Draft (aside from things like ya know, actual talent)
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You're also out of your mind if you think I'm going to ignore how Jayson Tatum was the name Flagg mentioned. No surprise the kid from Maine who idolizes Tatum saw his life change the minute Tatum became a Celtic. It becomes clearer by the day that eventually, one day, The Maine Event will find his way to the Garden to play with an older version of Tatum and Brown. Don't ask me how it's possible, just know that Brad Stevens will find a way. It may take 8+ years, but the signs have never been clearer that it's his eventual basketball destiny.
The Boston Celtics remain one of the NBA's most popular teams with current stars and a rich history of success.
Spanning through New England, the impact reached the family of Cooper Flagg in Newport, Maine. Growing up with his brothers, Ace and Hunter, becoming Celtics fans was instilled early on from their parents, who both played college basketball in Maine.
"It's just our culture," Cooper's mom, Kelly Flagg, told NESN.com at the HoopHall Classic. "I love it. My husband loves it. We always have it on. We're huge Celtics fans. We used to watch film on the Celtics with the older guys - (Larry) Bird, (Kevin) McHale, (Robert) Parish, (Danny) Ainge - who was my guy. We had that on. We bought the kids the 1985-86 Celtics DVD set. That was Cooper's Christmas present when he was eight. When we traveled to AAU events down here in Massachusetts, it would play in our van."
Cooper's love for the Celtics continued as he got older, consistently asking for Celtics and Duke University gear for Christmas. With the current Boston teams, one superstar combines those passions in Jayson Tatum, who played his college ball with the Blue Devils before the Celtics drafted him in the first round in the 2017 NBA Draft.
All I'm saying is put a pin in it and let's revisit this topic around 2033. God just typing that year made me feel even older. God dammit.