Sep 29, 2025; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) poses for a photo during the Mavericks 2025 media day at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Mavericks' Anthony Davis confident Cooper Flagg is ready to defend Kevin Durant

Originally posted on Dallas Mavericks on SI
By Austin Veazey | Last updated Oct 3, 2025 2:02 PM ET

The Dallas Mavericks are in the first week of training camp for the 2025-26 season, integrating first overall pick Cooper Flagg into a deep and talented team that does have some question marks.

One of those question marks is point of attack defense: Who is going to guard the best scorer on the other team? Anthony Davis is pretty positive that Cooper Flagg is more than capable of handling the Kevin Durants of the world.

“He can block shots, he can jump, he can rebound, he can defend one through five... He can cover a lot of ground, force guys to get beat. He can cover up for us," David said. “Man, he has a lot of talent on both ends of the floor, but defensively, he’s going to shine. We’re going to put him in situations where you have to guard maybe the best wing, to have to guard Kevin Durant or Jimmy Butler or these guys. We have enough confidence in him to go out, send him out there and be able to guard those guys."

Flagg's two-way ability is what made him such a prized prospect, especially his versatility on the defensive end of the floor. Especially at his age and his size, he's a rare impact defender, but he still has the offensive chops to get it done on that side, too.

Jason Kidd wants to use him as a Grant Hill type of player, another Duke product, as someone who can initiate offense as a bigger wing. That'll be necessary with Kyrie Irving out of the lineup for the foreseeable future as he recovers from his torn ACL.

Anthony Davis Wants Cooper Flagg to Grow as a Leader

Davis thinks Flagg is good enough of a defender as a rookie to have the authority to make sure his teammates are in the right place, and Davis has told him as much.

"I told him in practice today, we’re doing a drill, and you know, he was hesitant about kicking the guy out. And I said, ‘You’re very great defensively, where you have the ability to grab him and throw him and tell him to get to his position,'" Davis emphasized.

Everyone seems excited about what Flagg can do for this team. Davis is someone who has seen it firsthand, as Flagg was part of the Select Team practicing against Team USA ahead of the Olympics last year. If Flagg blossoms into the star everyone expects, it could be a great season for the Mavs.

This article first appeared on Dallas Mavericks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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