Jason Terry Q&A: Longtime NBA Star's Take on Today's Top Talent

Q: Obviously, you played for a lot of teams, had a long tenure with the Hawks to begin your NBA career, but you won a championship with the Mavs and Dirk Nowitzki. I want to get your current thoughts on the Mavs and Cooper Flagg particularly, what do you think of him as a rookie talent?

Terry: He's definitely going to be a cornerstone in the NBA here for a long time, his high IQ, his ability to score. But he also makes the game easier for the guys around him. That's when you know you have a great player.

Q: Is there a certain player that you can compare him to, past or present or whatnot?

Terry: He's kind of carving out his own bits. There's not really anybody that I can say that he's similar to. You will kind of think of Luka Dončić, the way he facilitates at that size. But then again, he's a little more athletic than Luka, so he'll go up top on you. He gets out in transition.

Q: He's so versatile. And there were some knocks on him coming into the NBA. I guess people didn't believe that he could be dominant offensively, but he's proved them wrong. Are you a little bit surprised about how he's kind of taking the league by storm his rookie year so quickly?

Terry: I'm not surprised, because when you see the Mavericks staff, you got a guy like Jason Kidd ... who's played this game at a high level. He also coached young stars like Giannis [Antetokounmpo], Jabari Parker. He's taken their games to different levels. You knew what he would do with Luka Dončić as well, but you knew what he could do with a talent like a Cooper Flagg. He's phenomenal with player development, getting the best out of guys.

Q: Obviously with him, because he's such a unique talent, you have a hard time comparing him to anybody. It's only a matter of time before he emerges an MVP candidate, right?

Terry: Yeah, for sure, just because of the way he impacts the game on all three levels, offensively.

Q: I want to get some of your quick thoughts on the Hawks, your first team. They're kind of in transition, but they're doing pretty solid right now with Jalen Johnson leading the way. They moved on from Trae Young. Thoughts on the direction of that franchise and on Jalen Johnson?

Terry: I opened up that arena when it was Philips Arena, and to see them rebuilding with some good young talent, it's been fun to see. Jalen Johnson is a do-it-all type of guy. He's probably gonna be on the triple-double list here pretty soon before he retires because he fills up a stat sheet, and he does it effortlessly.

Q: Is it safe to say with him, he's only 23 years old, that's definitely a guy you can build around, and they can potentially be a championship team maybe down the road with him as the building block? 

Terry: No doubt. He'll continue to get better as well.

Q: I want to get a player comparison for him from you because I was talking to Dominique Wilkins last night, and he mentioned Scottie Pippen as a player comparison.

Terry: There you go. That's fair. Still got to get better defensively, but when you talk about facilitating the ball and impacting the game at three levels, he's definitely a Scottie Pippen-type player.

Q: I know you're an assistant coach right now for the Jazz, but do you talk to Jalen? Have you talked to him at all? 

Terry: I haven't talked to him, just in interaction. When I coached the Grand Rapids Gold G-League team, he had spent some time with the College Park Skyhawks, and I got to tell him I kind of like his game, take it easy on us. But he seems like a great kid.

Q: Best shooting guard in the game today? 

Terry: I gotta go with Steph Curry. I know he's a point, but he shoots.

Q: Best scorer? I asked Tracy McGrady this question and he said Luka Dončić.

Terry: Anthony Edwards. Luka is definitely in there, Luka is in the conversation. He's a bad boy, but Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, you gotta go with the MVP. Shai is definitely one of the best scorers, those three are the top three scorers in the league right now. And anytime he's still in the league putting on a uniform, Kevin Durant to me, I can watch that guy shoot all day.

Q: Best sixth man?

Terry: Cam Thomas is tough. Cam can fill it up.

Q: Since you excelled as a sixth man for a great team in the Mavericks, what does it take to excel as a sixth man? What is the proper mindset to have and skill set?

Terry: Proper mindset is knowing when you come in, you're providing instant energy. You've got to have a deadly scoring touch, but you gotta have a good feel, since you're sitting over there for six, seven minutes, then they put you in the game. You gotta know how to follow how the game is going. The other thing is, you've always gotta be ready. Always gotta be ready.

Q: What are you doing with Panini over All-Star weekend?

Terry: We just blew it up to the Panini Prism VIP Lounge on a roof op. Sunny Los Angeles, All-Star weekend. Doing some great things, signing some cards. Hopefully the fans love it, got some signature cards here. Signature Series basketball, and a lucky fan probably gonna get a couple nice autographs.

Q: Are most of the trading cards you're signing from the Mavericks?

Terry: It's really from my entire career. I got a couple of Atlanta Hawks rookie cards, 2011 championship, too.

Q: Were you a big card collector while growing up?

Terry: I had a three-ring binder with plastic sleeves. I was an avid collector. I started out collecting baseball and football and then just got into basketball. I got lucky. One of my buddies traded me an '89 Shawn Kemp. I'm from Seattle, so that was one of my first ones. I was like, "I gotta start getting into basketball collective cards." The relationship with Panini, my first NBA check came from Panini my rookie year right after the draft. That was my first sign of being a true professional.

Q: What would you say is your favorite card of all time?

Terry: My favorite card of all time is me doing the NBA rookie photo shoot. I had on some Master P Converse red and white and I was doing the Jordan logo, the jump man logo with a basketball spread out. I get that card, people mail it up to me, I sign them, send them back. That always brings me full circle because that was my first trading card.