Earlier this week, rumors began to fly about the Phoenix Suns' Bradley Beal. According to former NBA player Brian Scalabrine, Beal got into a verbal altercation with highly-touted high school prospect Cooper Flagg at a basketball camp hosted by Jayson Tatum. Flagg is currently the #2 player in the Class of 2025. However, as one NBA scout put it, “He will be the No. 1 pick,” one scout told Heavy Sports. “It is just a matter of what year he comes in. But even if he were to get hurt or something, he’d probably be No. 1 still.”
“I heard a rumor that my boy Cooper Flagg was at Jayson Tatum’s camp and he was busting Brad Beal 1-on-1, and Brad Beal got mad at him. Started cussing him out,” Scalabrine said. “This dude is a major trash-talker. … So I guess the rumor is that Brad Beal and him were squaring off 1-on-1 and Brad Beal was taking it lightly. It’s a high school kid. Then Cooper started giving it to him. And I guess the rumor is, Cooper started talking trash and Bradley Beal got mad. Really mad," Scalabrine said on his radio show. While a wild rumor, Scalabrine has worked with Flagg in the past. However, Bradley Beal has since addressed these claims.
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Beal reacted to the news in the comments of a post about the drama. "Huh? 🤣🤣🧢🧢," Beal wrote on Instagram. So what's the real story? Beal's reaction is hard to gauge. At the very least, the camp likely happened and Flagg may have played 1-on-1 against Beal at one point. However, that's likely where the truth likely diverges. Flagg likely bragged to Scalabrine or someone else that he "totally cooked" Beal or that Beal was mad about getting cooked. Then the story breached containment and hit the national spotlight.
As mentioned, Cooper Flagg is one of the most coveted prospects of the 2025 recruiting class. Currently ranked as the #2 player in the class by ESPN, everyone wants the 6’8, 200lb forward who is widely considered the best rim defender currently playing at the high school level. Additionally, Flagg, at the time of writing, has 11 collegiate offers, including Duke. He is currently playing out of the Montverde Academy in Florida. He's a big deal and knows that he's a big deal. At the end of the day, this is likely a private brag that has spiraled out of hand.
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