Former NBA Player Claims Mavericks Star Cooper Flagg Can’t Be ‘Face’ of the League Because He’s White

November 3, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

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Former NBA player Charlie Villanueva doubled down on his claim that Dallas Mavericks star Cooper Flagg will never be the face of the league because of his skin color.

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“This might sound crazy, but I don’t think in 2026 a white dude could be, I’m gonna be real, could be the face of the league, if I’m being honest,” Villanueva, 42, said during an appearance on the To the Bahapodcast on October 28. “Because it’s a Black league, right?”

The former Toronto Raptors forward returned to the pod on Monday, November 2, where he doubled down on his hot take.

“When is the last time we’ve seen a white man be the face of the league?” he questioned. “Don’t say Larry Bird, they had to pair him up with Magic. When was the last time a white man was single-handedly the best player in the league?”

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Bird, 69, was the star of the Boston Celtics and largely the face of the NBA from 1979 to 1992. The Hall of Famer was often featured alongside league rival Magic Johnson, who entered the league the same year after being drafted as the first overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers. The two went head-to-head throughout the 1980s, with Johnson, 67, taking five championships and Bird taking three that decade.

Villanueva made it clear that he meant “no disrespect” to Flagg, 19, who was the first overall pick in 2025 and was crowned Rookie of the Year after his first year in the league.

While Villanueva stood firm in his argument, adding that the NFL, a predominantly white league, would never use a Black player as the face of the league, his podcast cohosts adamantly disagreed.

“If the numbers back it up — if a white dude comes in a run this [expletive],” Theo Pinson said.

Flagg played one season at DukeUniversity before entering the draft and has made a splash in his short time in the league, being named in conversations as one of the greatest current players alongside Luka Dončić and Victor Wembanyama.