Stephen A. Smith mentions Cooper Flagg’s race as a reason to draft him

The Dallas Mavericks won the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes earlier this week when they secured the first overall selection of this year’s NBA Draft.

The Mavs have already insinuated the pick is not available in a trade, and all signs point to them taking the Duke star.

It amounts to a bailout for Dallas, which traded away Luka Dončić during the season.

Because the Mavericks had only a 1.8% chance of getting the first pick, there has been speculation the lottery was rigged.

Either way, it’s a huge boost for the Mavs, who are getting just the fourth player to win the Wooden Award as a freshman, joining Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson.

However, Stephen A. Smith said Flagg’s skill wasn’t the only reason to select him.

“When you’ve got somebody with that kind of potential, and they’re White and you are in America, you keep that dude. I’m telling you right now,” Smith said on Wednesday’s edition of “First Take.”

Smith backtracked a tad, noting the Mavs shouldn’t pick Flagg strictly because he is White.

“The first order of business is he can ball,” Smith added. “It’s because he can play, but the fact that he’s White, marketable — even his name makes him more marketable. I’m not passing that up at all.”

Smith’s comments echo some made about Caitlin Clark last year, notably WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson.

“I think it’s a huge thing. I think a lot of people may say it’s not about Black and White, but, to me, it is,” Wilson said at the time. “It really is because you can be top-notch at what you are as a Black woman, but yet maybe that’s something that people don’t want to see.

“They don’t see it as marketable, so it doesn’t matter how hard I work. It doesn’t matter what we all do as Black women, we’re still going to be swept underneath the rug. That’s why it boils my blood when people say it’s not about race, because it is.”

The NBA Draft, where Flagg will formally find out his professional destination, is scheduled for June 25.