As two of the top prospects in the 2024 recruiting cycle, former five-star recruits VJ Edgecombe and Cooper Flagg went viral prior to being one-and-done players at Baylor and Duke, respectively, during a meeting on the prep hardwood. The two eventual top-three NBA Draft picks exchanged words at the free-throw line in 2024.
Edgecombe recently addressed the supposed beef between the two top draft picks and said everything was blown out of proportion. Edgecombe went No. 3 overall to the Philadelphia 76ers this summer while Flagg was the top pick of the Dallas Mavericks.
“It’s a friendly rivalry; off the court we’re close,” Edgecombe said during an appearance on Podcast P with Paul George from Wave Original. “We’re close, but we know on the court, we’re competing. People thought he said (that), because he thought I was bad or something like that. Nah. I stepped over him. He was not he floor and got the last shot of like the third quarter and walking to my bench, I seen him on the floor and I just walked over him.
“I had like 20-something (points) that game. He can’t say I’m not like that. He shot, flopped and tried to get a foul and I was like, ‘Bro, that ain’t no foul’ and I just walked over him to my bench. They dragged it. The camera man dragged it so crazy. I understand it’s for clicks.”
Edgecombe and Flagg met again as freshmen in college basketball earlier this year.
“At the end of the day, it’s all love between me and Coop,” Edgecombe said. “They tried it again in March (during the NCAA Tournament). We at the free-throw line and they tried to make it a thing again.”
Like Flagg, Edgecombe dazzled during NBA summer league and Philadelphia chose to shut him down early for rest ahead of the 2025-26 season. The 19-year-old poured in a game-high 28 points on 13 of 27 shooting, pulled down 10 rebounds and hand out four assists in his summer debut during a loss to the Utah Jazz.
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Flagg made two starts before the Mavericks decided they had seen enough following his 31-point outburst this month against the San Antonio Spurs. Flagg’s high-end scoring outing was the most by a No. 1 pick in summer league play since John Wall in 2010 and showed Dallas had a gem in its top selection.
Edgecombe average 15 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in his only season at Baylor while Flagg was college basketball’s national player of the year at Duke after scoring 19.2 points per game with 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
Edgecombe told George on his podcast that he “hated college basketball” because of the lack of spacing and expects his full offensive arsenal to be on display at the next level.