Cooper Flagg is the best player in the NBA Draft, and he’s white, and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith believes the Dallas Mavericks should draft him for both reasons.
By some mysterious happenstance, the Mavericks ended up with the #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. That windfall of good fortune has presented the Mavs with a choice: They can either draft Flagg or trade the pick for an already proven top-level NBA talent.
On Wednesday, Smith said the Mavericks should draft Flagg. Not only because he’s a great player, but also because he’s white, and the pick would go over well in the team’s home state of Texas.
“When you’ve got somebody with that kind of potential and they’re white and you are in America, you keep that dude. I’m telling you right now,” Smith said. “With my Black self, I’m the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, I ain’t thinking about drafting somebody else. I’m not thinking about moving Cooper Flagg. I’m drafting Cooper Flagg… just think about the marketability.”
"When you got somebody with that kind of potential and they’re white and you are in America, you keep that dude…Texas is different. And in Dallas, Texas, if you got an opportunity to take Cooper Flagg, you take Cooper Flagg." - Stephen A. Smith pic.twitter.com/eFjVMRaqD6
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 14, 2025
As evidence of how “different” things are in Texas, Smith recalled visiting the state and having the episode of Martin he was watching interrupted by the national anthem. One wonders how long ago this was, if Smith was watching Martin, but he did not reveal when the event occurred.
Smith continued, “Jerry Jones taught me this. Texas is different. And in Dallas, Texas, if you got an opportunity to get Cooper Flagg, you take Cooper Flagg.”
The ESPN hot-taker sought to clarify his stance, lest he be accused of saying the Mavs should draft Flagg only because he’s white.
“People love to misquote this show,” Smith said. “I am in no way saying that you keep the number one overall pick just because Cooper Flagg is white. The first order of business is, he can ball. It’s because he can play, but the fact that he’s white, marketable, even his name makes him more marketable! I’m not passing that up at all.”
Smith is undoubtedly correct about this. Before Caitlin Clark entered the league, the only white people who watched the WNBA were family members or paid employees. A phenom player with whom a group of people can identify has unique marketing power.
The NBA Draft takes place on June 25.
