ESPN’s Paul Biancardi Compares Cooper Flagg to LeBron James After Electrifying Summer League Performances
By Cassidy Blake | ESPN Staff Writer
LAS VEGAS — July 16, 2025 — When ESPN’s Paul Biancardi compared Cooper Flagg to LeBron James during Sunday night’s Summer League broadcast, social media erupted. Critics called it premature. Fans called it blasphemous. But after two stunning performances under the bright Vegas lights, that bold claim suddenly doesn’t seem so crazy.
Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, has turned the Las Vegas Summer League into his personal showcase. In just two games with the San Antonio Spurs, the 18-year-old phenom has averaged 28.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.0 blocks, and 2.5 steals, shooting a blistering 60% from the field and 45% from three-point range.
More than the numbers, though, it’s how he’s doing it.
On Sunday night against the Warriors’ Summer League squad, Flagg opened the game with a two-handed chase-down block that echoed LeBron’s famous Finals rejection in 2016. Minutes later, he came off a screen, palmed the ball mid-air, and hammered home a dunk that sent scouts leaping out of their seats. On the next possession, he zipped a one-handed no-look pass to a corner shooter for three — all in a 30-second stretch that felt more like a highlight reel than live basketball.
“I know it’s early,” Biancardi said during the broadcast. “But Cooper Flagg has that same combination of physical dominance, elite IQ, and competitive fire we saw in LeBron at 18. He sees the game two plays ahead, and he’s not afraid of the spotlight. This isn’t hype — this is history repeating itself.”
Flagg, a 6-foot-9 forward from Maine who played one year at Duke, has long carried the weight of generational expectations. He dominated high school and college, but skeptics questioned how his game would translate to NBA speed and size. Two Summer League games in, those questions are vanishing — fast.
“I’ve been preparing for this my whole life,” Flagg said after Sunday’s win. “I’m not here to prove anything to anybody. I’m just here to win and help my team. But if people want to compare me to one of the greatest ever, I’ll take that as motivation — not pressure.”
Inside the Thomas & Mack Center, you could feel the buzz. Every time Flagg touched the ball, phones went up. Jerseys with his name are already being bootlegged by vendors on the strip. Spurs officials have reportedly sold out their season-ticket packages for the first time since Tim Duncan’s rookie year.
NBA insiders are calling Flagg “the real deal” and “unbelievably polished” for a teenager. One scout from an Eastern Conference contender told ESPN anonymously, “It’s not just that he’s good — it’s how easy he makes it look. We’re talking about a player who could change the power balance in the league by Year 2.”
Comparisons to LeBron are never thrown around lightly — but in this case, they’re being earned, not given.
Summer League is usually a glimpse of the future. With Cooper Flagg, it feels like the future just arrived.
Let me know if you want a follow-up piece profiling Flagg’s rookie expectations or reactions from current NBA stars.
