When Duke’s Cooper Flagg slipped under the basket late in the first half of the Blue Devils’ ACC Tournament quarterfinal contest against Georgia Tech, my immediate thought was, why?
Not why, as in, why did he fall, but why, as in is he even playing college basketball.
Thanks to the NBA and the NBPA, a draftee must be at least 19 years old and at least one year removed from his high school graduation.
So, Flagg is stuck playing semi-professional basketball.
On the surface, having to spend a year waiting to become a multi-millionaire is not a bad thing.
Pretending to be a college student, hanging out with the coeds, being the BMOC.
Not bad at all.
Until what happened Thursday happens.
Flagg fell to the hardwood, and his left ankle bent in a way that most people’s ankles don’t.
He was taken to the locker room and moved around in a wheelchair to the medical room, where X-rays were negative.
Flagg hobbled back to the Duke bench early in the second half and watched his team rally for a hard-earned win over GT.
If I’m Cooper Flagg, that’s the last time I will see the floor at the Spectrum Center for the rest of the ACC Tourney.
Healthy ankle, or not.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer signaled as much after the game, that he’d have to be convinced to put Flagg back out on the court on Friday night against UNC.
Winning the ACC Tournament title doesn’t move the Blue Devils closer to the ultimate goal.
And allowing Flagg to play at less than 100 percent is unacceptable.
The young man is the consensus No. 1 pick in the June NBA draft, and despite the stupid rumors he’s considering returning to Duke next year, he is not.
A current NBA scout has told me numerous times this season that he was ready to play in the league last summer.
After watching Flagg play against Virginia in late February, I agree.
He was simply one of the best freshman college basketball players I have seen play.
In JPJ, he had a pedestrian game, scoring 17 points and 14 rebounds — his seventh double-double of the year.
He’d accomplished the double-double by halftime.
I said it was a pedestrian game; he made it look that easy.
So, at least for a few hours, Flagg will be the center of conversation in college basketball, or his left ankle will.
As much as I dislike Duke — OK, dislike is being kind; I hate Duke with a passion — I will give Scheyer credit for taking a very cautious approach with his superstar.
“It’s not worth it,” said Scheyer. “It just isn’t. We’ve got to see if we can get him right for this run that we can make in the tournament,” added Scheyer.
The Duke coach wasn’t referring to the remainder of the ACC Tournament; he was talking about the NCAA Tournament.
Even with a somewhat healthy Flagg, Duke (29-3) already has a no. 1 seed in the tournament all but sealed.
Former UNC coach Roy Williams famously once said, “The ACC Tournament is just a cocktail party.”
Cooper Flagg should not be welcomed to the remainder of this cocktail party.
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