LeBron James Makes Bold Kawhi Leonard, Cooper Flagg Comparison

Situation is everything for a prospect, and Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James recently brought up Kawhi Leonard's development with the San Antonio Spurs when talking about Flagg.

"[Cooper Flagg] has the benefit, unlike myself, he gets to join a team that's established," James said. "With Hall of Fame guys. Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, right off the bat. Hall of Fame coach Jason Kidd. They can give him the whole blueprint, while he continues to learn what his blueprint will be."

"We mentioned Kawhi, we don't know if Kawhi would've ended up somewhere without those built-in habits in San Antonio, he would have probably been great obviously, but he had time to hone those skills," James said. "Be around [Tim Duncan], be around Manu [Ginobili], be around Tony [Parker], be around [Popovich], to where he was able to get better on his own time and not the league's time."

Of course, Kawhi Leonard made a name for himself with the San Antonio Spurs, winning NBA Finals MVP in 2014, then again with the Toronto Raptors in 2019. Leonard has yet to reach that level of success with the Clippers, but when healthy, he continues to remind people how he is a Hall of Fame player.

Leonard was brought into the perfect situation with the Spurs, and LeBron James and Steve Nash think that Cooper Flagg is lucking into a very similar role with the Mavericks.