AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson entered college basketball this season as the two most hyped freshmen in the nation, and deservedly so. Dybantsa is currently averaging 18.7 points, seven rebounds, and 2.7 assists, while Peterson is averaging 21.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and three assists.
In the 2025 NBA Draft, Cooper Flagg was taken first overall out of Duke by the Dallas Mavericks. Dybantsa and Peterson are so good that one executive said that Flagg wouldn’t be the top pick, let alone a top-three player drafted. Fans voiced their opinions and strongly reacted to the executive’s statement.
Fans React Negatively to the Executive’s Statement on Cooper Flagg
It’s a good thing that the executive stayed anonymous because he is facing a lot of pushback from basketball fans. Fans voiced their opinions on the executive himself and how Flagg would stack up in the 2026 NBA Draft Class.
The first comment comes from former NBA player and Wisconsin basketball alumnus Frank Kaminsky. Kaminsky wholeheartedly disagreed with the executive, saying, “I need to be an executive one day so I can just say the most outlandish things and watch these dudes post it like I’m being serious. I’d start with ‘if the Thompson twins had morphed into one Thompson they’d have been my #1 pick in the 2023 draft.'”
Another fan says, “Yeah like who are these NBA Executives, lol I mean he is 18 average close to a double double, I’ll like to see the presume 5 picks ahead of him do that. Lol. Cooper Flagg is a Stud.”
Yeah like who are these NBA Executives, lol I mean he is 18 average close to a double double, I’ll like to see the presume 5 picks ahead of him do that. Lol. Cooper Flagg is a Stud
— Toño Adkins 🇩🇴🇺🇸🇮🇨🇸🇳🇳🇬🇧🇧🇮🇪 (@toadkins7) November 16, 2025
This next fan praises Flagg for playing out of position due to injuries on the Mavericks. He says, “Flagg hasn’t gotten enough appreciation this season. He’s been played out of position and has seen a lot more of the ball than he was probably expecting on this Dallas team. He’s been very solid to say the least.”
The Mavericks made headlines by trading Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers, and as a result, people are trying to compare Flagg in his rookie year to Dončić.
This fan writes, “Really not digging this Flagg disrespect i’ve been seeing lately..like this brother is 18, being played out his position, his team is wacked out the place and its like every single move he does is being compared to current Luka Doncic..this is INSANE pressure fr.”
Really not digging this Flagg disrespect i’ve been seeing lately..like this brother is 18, being played out his position, his team is wacked out the place and its like every single move he does is being compared to current Luka fkin Doncic..this is INSANE pressure fr 😬
— bin. (@sprucespree) November 15, 2025
This fan calls out the executive for being a troll and says, “100% he’d still go #1 this is a classic ‘some NBA executives’ twitter troll’.”
Lastly, this fan says that the disrespect to Flagg is because Dybantsa and Peterson are new. He says explicitly, “It’s all about the shiny new object mentality, nothing more.”
It’s more than okay to show respect to Dybantsa and Peterson, but it doesn’t have to be done at Flagg’s expense.