Stephen A. Smith sends message to Duke basketball amid Cooper Flagg's injury
Yesterday at 12:33 PM
In what was concerning news for any fan, Duke basketball star Cooper Flagg suffered an ankle injury during the first half of the team’s 78-70 win over Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament. As Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer provided an update on Flagg that he has a sprained ankle and that the X-rays came back negative, sport analyst Stephen A. Smith spoke about the injury and how they should approach the star’s availability.
One aspect Scheyer would say after the game is that he has to be convinced that Flagg should return for the conference tournament since they need him for the national tourney. Smith on ESPN’s “First Take” would echo the same sentiments saying that the ultimate goal is to “win a national championship.”
“Well, I think they should be very, very cautious,” Smith said. “First of all, he shouldn’t be playing for the rest of this conference tournament. It doesn’t matter. You’re trying to win a championship if you’re the Duke Blue Devils. You’re trying to win a national championship. So you certainly want to, you want to rest him. You know, he probably can’t play. Doesn’t need to play, etc, and we understand that. So definitely sit him out.”
“He shouldn’t be playing for the rest of the ACC tournament. If he's available, I'm talking about 70% or better… You play [Cooper Flagg] during the NCAA Tournament if a National Championship is on the line.”
— Stephen A. Smith
(via @FirstTake)pic.twitter.com/2h3CWOQwdj
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 14, 2025
Stephen A. Smith on when Cooper Flagg should play in national tourney
Though the Duke basketball team won without Flagg, he is still the main crucial piece to the team as he’s projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft and has averaged 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. He’s averaging those numbers with 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from deep.
Smith would go on to say that he should play in the March Madness tournament for the Blue Devils, even if he is “70 percent” healthy.
“But if he is available at any point, and I’m talking about 70 percent or better, if he is available, okay? You’re trying to win a national championship, you play that man during the NCAA tournament,” Smith said. “That’s what you do. You play that man during the NCAA tournament if a national championship is on the line. I’m not talking about you as the number one seed versus another 16 seed or something like that. No. You should be able to handle that without him. But as the tournament progresses, if he’s available, 70 percent and he wants to play, let him play.”
Before the national tourney, the Duke basketball team is in the midst of the ACC bracket where they next face UNC on Friday night.
The post Stephen A. Smith sends message to Duke basketball amid Cooper Flagg’s injury appeared first on ClutchPoints.
