Inside The Cooper Flagg And Kyrie Irving Mavs Workout: ‘One Of The Greats!’
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Duke legends unite in Dallas as a healthy Kyrie Irving returns to the hardwood, mentoring reigning Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg ahead of a revitalized Mavericks season
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DALLAS – Cooper Flagg hasn’t yet played in an NBA game with Kyrie Irving
But he has recently worked out with him “in the gym” … and his reaction is a promising one for the Dallas Mavs
“I got to get in the gym with Kyrie this offseason,” Flagg said. “He’s back healthy. Kyrie is obviously one of the greats, so just to be able to share the floor with him and learn from him on the fly and be able to go out there and compete is going to be a lot of fun
Flagg issued his comments in a video the NBA posted this week
Irving tore the ACL in his left knee way back on March 3 of 2025. Surgery followed later that month. Dallas later ruled him out for the entire 2025-26 season on Feb. 18
Fast-forward to today, and Irving has fully recovered and has been involved in the Mavericks’ offseason planning
Our Grant Afseth of MavsRoundtable.com reports that Irving has met with the new management team of coach Dusty May, president Masai Ujiri and GM Mike Schmitz
We have also reported that amid a volume of trade gossip, the Mavs want to see the vision of Flagg and Irving together on the floor become a reality in 2026-27
In 50 games in 2024-25 before the injury, Irving averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists. He shot 47.3% from the field and 40.1% from 3-point range that season
Irving has played 779 regular-season games over 14 seasons and averages 23.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 5.6 assists. He has made nine All-Star teams and three All-NBA teams, and he won a title with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016
At age 34, he remains one of the NBA’s best point guards
Flagg is just 19 and coming off his Rookie of the Year campaign … and has a connection of sorts with Irving that pre-dates their time in Dallas
Both players went to Duke. Both were taken first overall, Irving by Cleveland in 2011 and Flagg by Dallas in 2025. Irving won Rookie of the Year with the Cavaliers in 2011-12, and Flagg won it this past spring
With Irving unavailable last year, Flagg was the featured guy in every way. He finished his rookie season with 316 assists and 161 turnovers on a 26.9% usage rate, and he averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 70 starts
This year, the idea is that Dallas engineers a turnaround from last season, when Dallas went 26-56 and ranked 27th of 30 teams in offensive rating at 110.3
There are other new pieces around here, including first-round pick Morez Johnson, plus Zaccharie Risacher, Santi Aldama, Marcus Sasser and Tarik Biberović
How will it all come together? Dallas opens the regular season against the Houston Rockets on Oct. 21. … with Flagg and Irving about to share center stage for the first time
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