Tony Kornheiser Is Worried About Cooper Flagg

As we’ve been discussing the last few days, the Cooper Flagg hype train has already left the station, velocity high but destination unknown. It’s shaping up as a major ride though.

And that worries Tony Kornheiser.

The long-time co-host of ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption, Kornheiser compares the rise of Flagg, potentially, to the rise of Caitlin Clark in the WNBA.

Here’s what he said Tuesday: “Let’s get to the real facts of this. Because he is going to Duke and because he is a white player, assumptions are going to be made, statements are going to be thrown around. That is the nature of what are dealing with, as it is with Caitlin Clark. I hope he is a great player, but the pressure on him is going to be enormous.”

That’s at least partly true but not necessarily entirely. For one thing, even though a lot of people clearly still hate Duke, much of that seems to have been tied up with Mike Krzyzewski and a lot of it came from fear. Jon Scheyer has done well in his first two seasons, winning 75 percent of his games, but his personality is much sunnier than Coach K’s. Duke fans probably never understood that K’s glowering and sideline intensity annoyed other people immensely. We saw his humor and warmth when he wasn’t focused on competition but other people saw his anger which, he once said, was a great weapon.

We didn’t sense as much anger at Kyle Filipowski this past season when he had a tripping incident. When it was Grayson Allen, it was off the chart news.

Still, the Flagg experience is probably going to get close to Zion levels. He doesn’t have that level of shocking athleticism – who does? – but he will get massive attention.

But it probably won’t be the same as Clark, simply because the NBA and WNBA are quite different, both for players and to a lesser extent, people who talk about those leagues.

Clark is clearly a superb basketball player. She is good enough for people to talk about the Clark Effect: ticket sales are up, teams have begun to travel charter rather than commercial (we’re not sure if it’s the entire league or not, but still) and she’s selling so many tickets that games have been moved to larger arenas.

And her fellow players seem really upset with her about all of it.

On the men’s side, it’s more likely to be fans, theorists and both on social media that will come after Flagg. The NBA has always accepted you if you can play. It’s the most meritocratic workplace in America. There is always competitive tension, but look how many different sorts of players have succeeded in the NBA. Just consider the following guys:

Manute Bol, Yao Ming, Dereck White, Kurt Rambis, Dennis Rodman, Pat Beverly, Jose Alvarado, Deni Avdija, Zach Edey, Isaiah Hartenstein, Tyler Herro, Grayson Allen, Chet Holmgren, Bill Laimbeer, Payton Pritchard, Vernon Maxwell, JJ Redick, Nikola Jokic, Larry Bird, Alex Caruso, Austin Reeves and Muggsy Bogues.

These men came from all over the world. They’re of many different ethnicities and classes. Some are profoundly gifted. Some just hustled their way in. Some, frankly, are weirdos (looking at you, Rodman).

When they prove they belong though, everyone accepts them. Look up what some of his Black contemporaries say about Larry Bird. It’s hilarious – and full of respect.

Kornheiser has a point, to be sure, but Flagg’s struggles are going to be with idiots in the media and social media. As long as he tunes that out and focuses on what Scheyer says to him, and what his teammates think of him, he’ll be fine.