Cooper Flagg Biography: Age, Height, Net Worth, Parents, NBA Stats & Career (2026)

Cooper Flagg is 19 years old , and he plays for the Dallas Mavericks. He just walked away with the 2026 NBA Rookie of the Year award, and if you haven’t been paying attention to him yet — well, you’ve kinda been missing out on one of those most ridiculous rookie seasons in all of professional basketball history.

This isn’t hype. The numbers back it up completely. So does the history he’s already rewritten.

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Quick Stats

Info	Details
Full Name	Cooper Flagg
Date of Birth	December 21, 2006
Age	19 years old (2026)
Birthplace	Newport, Maine, USA
Height	6 ft 9 in (2.03 m)
Weight	221 lbs (100 kg)
Wingspan	7 ft (2.13 m)
Position	Small Forward / Power Forward
NBA Team	Dallas Mavericks
Draft	1st Overall Pick, 2025 NBA Draft
College	Duke University
Net Worth	Estimated $5–10 million (2026)
Nickname	“The Maine Event”
Parents	Kelly Flagg & Ralph Flagg
Siblings	Ace Flagg (twin), Hunter Flagg

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Who Is Cooper Flagg?

Newport, Maine. Population 3,200. It’s the kind of town where everybody knows everybody , and the winters are brutal too, like properly brutal. And honestly, the biggest thing that ever happened was a kid from a brown farmhouse on the edge of Sebasticook Lake.

That kid is Cooper Flagg.

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Early Life — Newport, Maine

Cooper was born December 21, 2006 in Newport, Maine, about 25 miles west of Bangor. If you’ve driven through Newport , you already know the vibe. Pine trees everywhere. A beautiful glacial lake. A town that used to have mills and industry, but those left long ago. These days, many of Newport’s residents commute over 100 miles to Portland just for work.

Not exactly the kind of place you’d expect to produce an NBA superstar.

But here’s the thing about Newport — it had the Flagg family. And that changed everything.

The Basketball Family

Both of Cooper’s parents played college basketball, sort of. His dad Ralph Flagg played at Eastern Maine Community College. His mom, Kelly Bowman Flagg was a proper star — she played for the University of Maine from 1995 to 1999, was named team captain during her senior year and helped lead Maine to four straight American East titles. In her last season, Maine won their first-ever NCAA tournament game, like ever. She later became a high school basketball coach.

So Cooper didn’t just stumble into basketball. He was born into it. Literally.

There’s a famous detail that tells you everything about this family. Kelly used to play DVDs of the 1985–86 Boston Celtics championship team on repeat in the family van. The squad that starred Larry Bird. Cooper watched those tapes so many times growing up that Bird became his favourite player. Ask him today who shaped his game and he’ll tell you: Larry Bird for the competitiveness, Jayson Tatum for the offensive skill, and Jonathan Isaac for the defensive approach. Not the typical 19-year-old’s answer.

Brothers — Hunter and Ace

Cooper has two brothers. Hunter Flagg is older and played basketball at Nokomis Regional High School. Then there’s Ace — Cooper’s twin — who also plays basketball and committed to the University of Maine.

Growing up, the three of them were basically always on the court.

“We couldn’t play a game in our driveway without someone bleeding,” Ace said in April 2025. “The game would end when someone ran in yelling for mom — but it was always fun.”

That driveway. That backboard. That’s where it started, honestly.

And there’s also that tough, heartbreaking part of this family story that really doesn’t get talked about enough. In 2004, Kelly gave birth to twins prematurely at just 24 weeks. One of those boys — Ryder — passed away two days after birth. The other twin, Hunter, spent 109 days in the neonatal intensive care unit. Kelly stayed near the hospital the whole time, refusing to leave Portland until Hunter was healthy enough to come home, and it wasn’t short.

That kind of family — one that has been through real hardship and come through it together — you can see it in how Cooper carries himself. There’s a maturity there that goes beyond basketball.

A Physical Freak From Day One

Cooper was over 6 feet tall by the time sixth grade started. By seventh grade he could dunk on a full size hoop too, like it was no big thing. And his wingspan reaches 7 feet— honestly a wild measurement for anyone, let alone a teenager.

But physical gifts alone don’t make a player. What made Cooper different was the brain. He studied the game, like obsessively, and not in some casual way.He watched film , he understood the chess of it all, and he basically soaked up everything his basketball-coach mother pushed into him from the moment he could walk. Maybe it was the way she talked, or maybe it was the way he actually listened. Either way, it stuck.

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High School Career

Nokomis Regional High School, Newport Maine

Nokomis Regional High School, Newport Maine Cooper kicked off his high school years at Nokomis Regional— his family’s own school, where both his parents had played before he ever did.

As a freshman. Just picture it for a second, a 14 year old kid throwing up 20.5 points, 10 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 3.7 steals, and, also 3.7 blocks every game. He became the first freshman in Maine history to take home the Gatorade Player of the Year award for the state and it wasn’t even close.

And that’s not even the whole thing. He carried Nokomis to a state championship, dropped 22 points, pulled down 16 rebounds in the title game, then went quiet like it was no big deal. Like, okay sure. So yeah, scouts were already buzzing. The name Cooper Flagg was being passed around in basketball circles, at a national level. And he was 14.

Montverde Academy, Florida

After his freshman year, Cooper moved over to Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida — one of those respected basketball places that people talk about in a low voice. And yeah, a bunch of famous alumni have come through there, including Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons. The program exists specifically to develop elite players at the highest level.

Montverde was where Cooper went from “great prospect” to “generational talent.”

He led Montverde to this perfect 34–0 season, like full stop, and somehow a national championship too. He won the 2024 Gatorade National Player of the Year — which is kind of an all-sports thing, not only basketball or anything like that. He also won Mr. Basketball USA. Then there was the Naismith Prep Player of the Year. And yeah, he was a McDonald’s All-American.

After that he did this move that kinda says everything about the type of player he is — he reclassified. He shifted himself up by a year to plug into the 2024 class, because he was just ready for the next difficulty, or whatever you want to call it. No reason to linger around, for sure.

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College Career at Duke University

Cooper committed to Duke under head coach Jon Scheyer. He’d been a Blue Devils fan since childhood — not exactly a surprise.

He lasted one season. He only needed one.

Then in his one college year at Duke, he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game. He won every award that existed:

• Wooden Award (best player in college basketball) — youngest winner ever
• Naismith Award
• AP National Player of the Year
• Julius Erving Award
• ACC Player of the Year
• ACC Rookie of the Year
• ACC All-Defensive Team

He was also only the 4th freshman in NCAA history to win the Wooden Award, joining Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, and Zion Williamson. So at 18, that’s basically the company he was matching. He even put up 42 points vs Notre Dame in one game, and it set the ACC freshman scoring record, which is just… wild.

Duke made it to the Final Four before falling to the Houston Cougars. Cooper then declared for the NBA Draft right away, no waiting, no pause.

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NBA Career — Dallas Mavericks

Draft Night 2025

On draft night 2025, the Dallas Mavericks had the first overall pick, and it was basically never going to be anyone but Cooper Flagg. He signed his rookie contract on July 2, 2025. He was 18 and he was stepping into one of the league’s most historic franchises, a team in serious adjustment mode after the Luka Dončić trade drama, plus then the whole Anthony Davis situation, like there was no pause button.

Davis was moved in January 2026. And suddenly, Cooper Flagg wasn’t just a rookie anymore. He was the entire franchise.

At 18.

Rookie Season Stats

Here’s what he averaged across 70 games in his debut season:

• 21.0 points per game
• 6.7 rebounds per game
• 4.5 assists per game
• 1.2 steals per game
• 0.9 blocks per game
• 46.8% shooting from the field

Those numbers are extraordinary for any player. For a teenager carrying a rebuilding franchise largely on his own? They’re almost impossible to believe.

And here’s the stat that puts it all in perspective — Cooper became the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1984–85 to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, AND steals all in the same season. The only other active player in the entire NBA doing that across all four categories at the same time as Cooper was Nikola Jokić. The reigning champion and three-time MVP.

That’s the list Cooper Flagg was on as a teenager.

The Records He Broke

Cooper didn’t just have a good rookie season, he kinda rewrote the record books, like for real.

• He became the youngest player in NBA history to score 50 points in a game
• Also he was the first player since Michael Jordan to put up multiple 45 point games as a rookie.
• Scored 51 points against the Orlando Magic on April 4, 2026 — a career high
• Earlier in the season, put up 49 points and 10 rebounds against the Charlotte Hornets on January 29, 2026 — the most points ever scored by a teenager in NBA history
• LeBron James personally praised him after that 51-point game — the same LeBron whose records Cooper was in the process of breaking

A 96-point performance across two games in the final weekend of the regular season sealed the deal on the Rookie of the Year award before the voting even happened.

2026 Rookie of the Year

The announcement came on April 27, 2026. Cooper Flagg won the 2026 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year award.

He beat his former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets — by just 26 points in the voting, which the NBA described as “one of the closest votes in Rookie of the Year history.” Philadelphia’s VJ Edgecombe finished third.

Cooper also became the second-youngest player to win Rookie of the Year in NBA history. The only player younger? LeBron James in 2004. Cooper finished directly behind him in that particular record.

He’s the third Mavericks player to win the award — following Jason Kidd in 1995 and Luka Dončić in 2019.

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Playing Style — What Makes Him Special

Cooper Flagg is what scouts call a two-way player. That means he’s elite on both ends of the court — offensively AND defensively. In today’s NBA, that combination is genuinely rare.

At 6 ft 9 in with a 7-foot wingspan, he can play point guard, small forward, AND power forward depending on what the Mavericks need. He creates his own shot, passes at a level well beyond his years, and on defence he blocks shots, steals passes, and reads plays before they even develop.

He cited Kevin Durant and the 2016–17 Golden State Warriors as his offensive model — that selfless, team-first approach where making the right play matters more than getting your own points. And Jonathan Isaac of Orlando as his defensive blueprint.

Coaches and teammates have talked about his maturity and work ethic constantly throughout his rookie season. This is not a kid who showed up and coasted on talent. He arrived at training camp already studying opponents’ tendencies. He asked coaches questions that veterans don’t think to ask.

The one area he can still grow? Three-point shooting. He shot 27.1% from three on his first NBA season — below average. But once that shot improves? The ceiling becomes genuinely frightening.

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Cooper Flagg Net Worth and Endorsements

Cooper Flagg’s estimated net worth in 2026 is between $8 million and $12 million. And it’s growing fast.

His NBA rookie contract alone is worth significant money as the first overall pick — the maximum rookie salary for that slot. But endorsements are where it gets interesting.

New Balance signed him as a major shoe deal partner — and there’s a beautiful detail here. New Balance has manufacturing roots in Maine. A Maine kid becoming the face of the brand that has deep connections to his home state. It’s the kind of partnership that writes itself.

Gatorade signed him too — and he became the first men’s college basketball player in history to be sponsored by Gatorade while still in college. That’s how big the hype was even before he played a single NBA minute.

More deals will come. As his profile continues to grow — especially if the Mavericks build a winning team around him — Cooper Flagg will become one of the most marketable athletes in American sport.

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Career Highlights at a Glance

Year	Achievement
2022	USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year; won a gold medal at the FIBA U17 World Cup.
2024	Gatorade National Player of the Year; McDonald’s All American, and also Mr. Basketball USA.
2024	Led Montverde Academy to a kinda perfect 34–0 run, for the national championship.
2025	Wooden Award winner at Duke—youngest ever, from what I hear.
2025	Led Duke to the Final Four , averaged 19.2 points and 7.5 rebounds.
2025	1st overall pick, for the 2025 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks.
Jan 2026	49 points plus 10 rebounds versus the Charlotte Hornets—most points by a teenager in NBA history.
Apr 2026	51 points versus Orlando Magic, career high.
Apr 2026	2026 NBA Rookie of the Year—second-youngest ever, just behind LeBron.
Apr 2026	NBA All-Rookie First Team

Cooper Flagg chased down Michael Jordan’s records

Newport, Maine still has the lake. Still has the pine trees. Still has about 3,200 people going about their quiet lives.

But that farmhouse with the pole in the driveway — the one where the backboard used to be — that place produced something the NBA hadn’t seen in a very long time. Maybe ever.

Cooper Flagg is 19, and he has already chased down Michael Jordan records, carried a rebuilding franchise like it was nothing, and grabbed Rookie of the Year by being the second-youngest player ever to do it. The only person ahead of him in that particular list is LeBron James. He still can’t legally drink in the United States.

The best is coming. Whatever “the best” even means for a player who’s already done this much before turning 20. Follow him on this journey — because you’ll be telling people you watched him from the beginning.

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