BOSTON — Friday night’s Boston Celtics game became a major point of attention when it was announced Jayson Tatum would be making his season debut. Yet for many the game has special meaning beyond a typical regular season contest long before that announcement.
This had to be one of the earliest-arriving crowds TD Garden has seen in some time. Yes, the majority of the crowd got to its seats over an hour before tip-off to watch Tatum warm up for his first game of the season after missing five months recovering from a torn Achilles. But there was another group, large enough to deserve its own attention, there for another reason – to see local New England product Cooper Flagg play his first professional game in Boston.
There was the main story, and then there was the Maine story.
As fans on one end of the area waiting for a picture of Tatum taking the floor, another group crowded the Dallas Mavericks’ tunnel. That crowd had a mix of Celtics green and Duke blue with even Mavericks blue mixed in. Some wore Celtics hats but Flagg No. 32 jerseys, representing both the hometown team and the local kid.
Before Flagg was the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft he grew up in Newport, Maine and initially attended Nokomis Regional High School. After finishing out his high school career in Florida he played his lone college season at Duke, but has often spoke about the impact the Celtics and the New England region as a whole have had on his basketball path.
“I had a lot of people come up from back home, so just to have that experience, it was really cool,” Flagg said. “The energy was incredible
tonight, obviously with Jayson coming back, the energy was great. It’s an incredible environment and incredible place to play.”
“It was it was incredible,” he added. “Just having a lot of people excited to be able to be here and watch me play is special”
The moment stood out to Mavericks head coach and former NBA player Jason Kidd as well. “That was incredible. I’ve never heard a road player get a cheer like that, especially here in Boston. They tend to go the other way,” Kidd joked.
Flagg played a very aggressive style the whole night, which came with mixed results. He had his moments though, and in 30 minutes on the floor scored 16 points on 7-of-23 shooting, with eight rebounds and six assists. While his Mavericks lost 120-100, it’s a game he’ll no doubt remember, and is looking forward to the next opportunity to come back to Boston.
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Cooper Flagg rises up for a jumper in his first professional game at TD Garden.
“It meant a lot. I tried to take a moment to take a deep breath and take it all in,” Flagg said of the night as a whole. “It’s a dream come true. Just being out there on that court, competing and playing at a high level is really special.”
“It was incredible to be able to play here. Obviously, this is the place I came as a kid and got to watch. I think it’s going to be incredibly fun for the rest of my career to be able to come here and play in front of this crowd.”
So, how did Flagg feel about his homecoming overlapping with Tatum’s return?
“It’s incredible. There’s so many levels to it. He’s somebody that I idolized growing up and and watched him go through the levels and ranks,” Flagg said. “Watched him at Duke and then, kind of to follow in his footsteps, go and play for [head coach Jon] Scheyer at Duke and then obviously coming into the league. It’s just, it’s it’s surreal. It was really special, I think, just for me to to have this experience tonight.”
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Jayson Tatum and Cooper Flagg talk after Friday night’s Celtics-Mavericks game.
The two stories crossed over almost right away. Boston won the initial tip, and the first pass of the game went to Tatum – with Flagg defending him. The crowd went nuts when Tatum touched the ball, but he later passed it off. Still, it was the perfect way to start a night with ‘so many levels’ at TD Garden, although that’s not how Flagg saw it.
“I’m just playing basketball,” Flagg said reflecting on the moment. “Just trying to lock in and play defense.”
They had that brief encounter early, but the two did get a chance to chat after the game.
“He just told me to keep going. He’s been a mentor for me, through my journey, from Duke to now,” Flagg shared of the conversation. “He’s been somebody that I’ve been able to talk to and get advice from. So, he’s just being a mentor. He just told me to keep going. And I told him the same. I told him that it’s it’s incredible what he was able to do and how how quick he came back. It’s really incredible.”
While Friday night was all about Tatum, this wasn’t the last time we’ll see him and Tatum duel and it’s not the last time Flagg will take the floor in Boston. For the first one though, it certainly was a memorable game that lived up to the hype – hype that started before Tatum’s return was even announced.
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