Kevin Love on Cooper Flagg oddly drawing comparison: ‘If he stays healthy he’ll have a far better career’

Somehow, the amazing career of former NBA champion and current Miami Heat power forward Kevin Love was mentioned when people were talking about the future of Duke star Cooper Flagg.

Actually, it wasn’t really people. It was just sports media personality Dan Patrick. For some reason, Patrick decided to compare Flagg to Love — suggesting Flagg’s career would be a disappointment if he ended up as a similar player.

Interesting, because Flagg and Love don’t play similar styles at all.

“If you said his career was going to be like Kevin Love’s, would that be a disappointment?” Patrick asked on his show, before answering his own question. “And it probably would be.”

Now, keep in mind that Flagg is widely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick, assuming he does in fact declare for the 2025 NBA Draft. So he’s a higher-rated college prospect than Love was during his run at UCLA.

Also, Love is a prototypical power forward; Flagg is sort of a frontcourt Swiss Army knife, a fantastic athlete. His NBA comp is probably more Kawhi Leonard than Love. So why Patrick felt the need to mention Love … well, it’s anyone’s guess.

Truth is, Love in his prime, when healthy, had an amazing run, first with the Timberwolves and then with the Cavaliers. In Minnesota, he will go down alongside the likes of Kevin Garnett and Karl-Anthony Towns among the greatest players in franchise history. In Cleveland, he reinvented himself to fit alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving to help lift the Cavs to the 2016 title.

Either way, Love took no offense to Patrick’s Flagg comparison.

“For those who will take this as a shot at me … I don’t take it as such,” he wrote on X. “I was pure skill and will. Cooper is far more talented than I ever was and if he stays healthy will have a far better career. He could very well have a statue by the time he’s finished. I’m a HUGE fan.”

The great thing about social media and podcasts is that they create dialogue. The bad thing about social media and podcasts is that they sometimes create dumb dialogue. Comparing Flagg to Love fits the latter.

For those who will take this as a shot at me…I don’t take it as such. I was pure skill & will. Cooper is far more talented than I ever was and if he stays healthy will have a far better career. He could very well have a statue by the time he’s finished. I’m a HUGE fan. https://t.co/aEv6G8gbR8

— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) March 28, 2025