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Friday, July 11, 2025

Cooper Versus Bronny is Strictly an Off-Broadway Event, Not a Broadway Feature Show

ESPN and other media outlets promoted Cooper Flagg's summer league debut game with a level of breathless hype just a notch or two below that accorded to an NBA Finals game--but this was equivalent to treating an off-Broadway play as if it were a Broadway feature show. It is understandable that fans may be interested to see how the number one overall draft pick performs, and it is natural for media outlets to relentlessly seek ratings/clicks/view/likes. However, the attempt to market Cooper Flagg's debut as some kind of battle royale versus Bronny James is ludicrous.

Cooper Flagg will immediately be an impactful player in the NBA, and there is good reason to believe that he will eventually be at least an All-Star; he is not fighting for a roster spot, nor will he spend a minute in the NBA G League. He will have to adjust to the physically, speed, and strength of NBA players, but he will be playing rotational minutes from day one.

In contrast, as a rookie last season, Bronny James scored 62 points in 181 minutes on .313 field goal shooting. He made 21 field goals and committed 13 turnovers. His season high was 17 points, which was the only time he scored in double figures; he failed to score in 13 of his 27 games. Bronny James is only in the NBA because his father is LeBron James, who has been the de facto general manager of the L.A. Lakers since joining the team in 2018 (although that may change in the wake of the Luka Doncic trade and the Buss family selling the team to owners who may not want James to continue to serve as player/GM).

Flagg may have 62 points in his first three NBA games, and he may average 17 ppg for his rookie season, never mind scoring 17 points in just one game. It will be shocking if he has 13 games during which he does not score a point.

Neither player shined in this overhyped summer league game, during which the Dallas Mavericks defeated the L.A. Lakers 87-85 after Flagg blocked DJ Steward's layup attempt, pushed the ball in transition, and found Ryan Nembhard for what proved to be the game-winning corner three pointer. Flagg finished with 10 points on 5-21 field goal shooting, six rebounds, four assists, three steals, and one blocked shot in 32 minutes. James had eight points on 2-8 field goal shooting, two rebounds, and two assists in 21 minutes. Neither player shot well, but Flagg showed that he can create shots for himself and for others; casual fans often underestimate how difficult it is to even get a shot off against NBA players. James' regular season single game career-high for field goal attempts is 10, but it is easy to picture Flagg averaging at least 10-12 field goals attempt per game in the regular season right now. 

There is rarely a prospect who is a sure thing. No one can say for sure if Cooper Flagg will be an all-time great, an All-NBA player, an All-Star, or just a solid pro--but based on what he has already shown at Duke and with USA Basketball, it would be surprising if he is not at the very least an NBA rotation player for a long time. In contrast, it would be surprising if Bronny James becomes an NBA rotation player any time soon, if at all. Flagg is playing in the summer league to practice running an offense and to get used to NBA defensive rotations, while James is playing in the summer league to try to earn an NBA roster spot and avoid being sent back to the NBA G League, which is where most players with his skill set and scant collegiate and NBA production play.

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posted by David Friedman @ 4:47 PM

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Frank Layden Coached With a Smile and Left the Fans Smiling

Frank Layden, who passed away on July 9, 2025 at the age of 93, was the second Utah coach in Jazz history after the franchise spent its first five seasons based in New Orleans. The Jazz did not post a winning record or make a playoff appearance in New Orleans, nor did they do so in their first four Utah seasons--but they went 45-37 and reached the second round in their fifth Utah season (1983-84), which was Layden's second full season on the Jazz bench. That year, Layden won the Coach of the Year award, the Executive of the Year award, and the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship award--a trifecta that is unlikely to ever be matched, as only a handful of other people have won even two out of those three awards, much less won two of them in the same year. 

After his great success in 1984, Layden led the Jazz to four more playoff appearances in the next four seasons before suddenly retiring with an 11-6 record in the 1988-89 season. When he retired from coaching, Layden said, "I think America takes all sports too seriously. Sometimes in the NBA, you feel like a dog. You age seven years in one. The pressure in the NBA is intense. It's time to have my time." Two-time NBA scoring champion (1981, 1984) Adrian Dantley was Utah's best player during most of Layden's time with the Jazz, with John Stockton arriving in 1984-85 (but not becoming a full-time starter until 1987-88) and Karl Malone arriving in 1985-86 (but not becoming an All-Star until 1988). Layden returned to the bench in 1998 for a brief stint as the coach of the WNBA's Utah Starzz before retiring from coaching for good, citing his desire to "enjoy life."

Layden posted a 277-294 record as an NBA head coach, which is not bad considering the condition of the Jazz franchise when he took over. Layden had a strong basketball pedigree dating back to his time as a player at Niagara, where he was a teammate/roommate of the legendary Hubie Brown. Layden served as an assistant coach for Brown with the Atlanta Hawks before joining the Jazz. 

However, Layden will be remembered for more than his basketball acumen or his won/loss record. He had a jovial personality, and he would banter good-naturedly with fans, one time asking a heckler if he paid for his seats. Layden explained that he could accept barbs from paying customers but not from the "freebies."  Layden co-hosted two NBA blooper tapes with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marv Albert.

It seems like a lot of the characters and quirky personalities of the game like Frank Layden have been replaced by "quants" (I call them "stat gurus") who are long on spreadsheets and short on one-liners. There is a place in basketball for analytics and data (properly utilized), but there is also a place for subjectivity and just good old fashioned fun--and Layden understood that.

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posted by David Friedman @ 2:02 AM

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