Cooper Flagg appears to have ‘hard-launched’ a relationship while on vacation following an award-winning rookie season.
New pictures on Instagram showed the Mavericks star and Duke women’s basketball center Arianna Roberson enjoying themselves in the sun.
Holiday Connection in Turks and Caicos
While neither Flagg nor Roberson shared pictures of each other directly on Instagram, they both posted photos of themselves enjoying the same swings over the ocean at Noah’s Ark in Turks and Caicos on Friday.
Flagg, 19, was photographed in one of the swings. Roberson posed holding the swing and her sunglasses for her photo.
Duke University Connection
The two seemingly met through their Duke connection.
Roberson and Flagg overlapped for a year at the school when they were freshmen in the 2024-25 season.
Flagg’s Impressive Rookie Season
Flagg declared for the NBA draft after his impressive lone college season, where he won accolades such as ACC Rookie of the Year. He was then drafted as the No. 1 pick by Dallas.
In his first professional season, Flagg averaged 21 points on 46 percent shooting. He also logged 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals throughout 70 starts.
The season culminated in him winning Rookie of the Year.
- Flagg also joined Michael Jordan as the only rookies to lead their respective teams in points, rebounds, assists and steals since the latter was first logged in the 1973-74 season.
Roberson’s Basketball Background
Roberson is no stranger to the game, nor the demands of the pros.
Her brother is former NBA guard Andre Roberson, who spent six of his seven years in the league with the Thunder. His last NBA season was in the 2020-21 season with the Nets.
This past year as a redshirt freshman, Roberson averaged 8.0 points per game on 41 percent shooting across 33 games for the Blue Devils.
Mavericks’ Season and Future
Despite Flagg’s early NBA stardom, Dallas missed the playoffs entirely.
It’s the second consecutive year the Mavericks missed the postseason since losing the NBA Finals in 2023-24.