Like Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving is a one-and-done Blue Devil and, like Flagg, a Dallas Maverick.

Irving sat out this season while recovering from an ACL injury, but he has sort of taken Flagg under his wing because he recognizes his massive talent and wants to help him reach his potential.

Irving told SI.com this: “Cooper is just an amazing player, and that’s not even just gassing it. At 19 years old, doing the things that he’s doing within our league is very special… He’s doing things that some of the greats, even before him, didn’t do. He’s chasing history.”

He also said this: “Listen, I understand. I’ve kind of been through this before. I don’t think there’s a lot of people around you right now that can tell you they’ve been through somewhat of a similar thing.”

Next year, for the first time, we’ll get to see them both on the court at the same time. After Flagg won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award on Monday, the Mavericks put out this video.

Narrated by Irving, the video features him talking about Flagg’s spectacular season and how he silenced doubters, which Flagg has done comprehensively.

And in a nice touch (or dig), Jamal Mashburn and Gilbert Arenas both went on the record early to express doubts about Flagg.

Those comments are included, and, in retrospect, they look like idiots.

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