Cooper Flagg Could Be The Answer To The NBA's Declining Popularity, But He's White

No sport's success is more contingent upon individual star power than American basketball. That is one reason why the NBA and men's college basketball are struggling to keep pace with the popularity and growth of other sports. Viewership for the NBA is down 48% since 2012.

The NBA's one-and-done rule, which requires players to spend only one year in college, has prevented collegiate males from emerging as household names while in school. Players go pro before fans learn their first name.

In the NBA, LeBron James is still the biggest star – but not like he was in past years. Whether it's the politicization of his brand or simply fatigue, LeBron is not the draw he was. He also turned 40 last month, and rumors are that he could retire after next season.

Fox Sports Radio host Colin Cowherd made the point last spring that the NFL and MLB have in place their faces of the league for the next decade, in Patrick Mahomes and Shohei Ohtani. The NBA doesn't have that. 

The three best players in the NBA are probably, in some order, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. None of them are American-born and, unlike in baseball, that matters. 

American basketball fans have never rallied behind international players en masse. Perhaps their finesse, Euro-style of play is a factor. Chicks dig the long ball and basketball bros dig the slam dunk. There are not many slam dunks between Jokic, Doncic, and Gilgeous-Alexander.

Put simply, men's basketball needs to identify its Patrick Mahomes, its Shohei Ohtani, and its successor to LeBron James.

Enter: Cooper Flagg.

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - JANUARY 11: Cooper Flagg #2 of the Duke Blue Devils goes up for a dunk against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the second half of the