When most fans talk about bitter rivalries in college basketball, Duke and North Carolina usually dominate the conversation. The Tobacco Road clash is one of the most storied rivalries in all of sports, and of course, NC State doesn’t exactly roll out the welcome mat for the Blue Devils either. But sometimes people forget that there’s another ACC school in the state of North Carolina that has its fair share of animosity toward Duke: Wake Forest.
That disdain surfaced once again recently when former Demon Deacon star and longtime NBA guard Jeff Teague decided to share his unfiltered thoughts on Duke’s biggest sensation, Cooper Flagg. The hype around Flagg has reached a fever pitch as he prepares for his first NBA season, with many analysts already labeling him “generational.” But Teague isn’t buying into that narrative just yet.
“Generational? No,” Teague said on his show. “Generational was LeBron. I don’t think we considered Steph Curry a generational talent when he first entered the league. We thought Zion would be generational. I think Flagg is going to be a really good player, though.”
Teague’s take sparked plenty of debate. After all, when a player is touted as the best prospect since LeBron James, expectations are bound to run high. Some, like former Mavericks star Jim Jackson, pushed back against Teague’s skepticism. Jackson, for one, believes Flagg absolutely has the potential to be the next LeBron-level figure in the NBA.
And that’s the thing about prospects like Flagg: no matter where you land on the debate, he’s going to generate discussion. Every dribble, every shot, every highlight will be scrutinized. Some will see a future Hall of Famer; others will argue he’s just another very good player who may fall short of the impossible expectations being placed upon him.
But one thing is clear—whether you think Cooper Flagg is truly “generational” or not, his presence ensures the conversation around Duke basketball, and now the NBA, isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
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