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Maine went even more radical than the summer Celtics did, routinely crashing four guys for offensive rebounds, a strategy the squad’s head coach, Alex Barlow, was hesitant to implement at first. With encouragement from a member of the Celtics’ analytics department, Drew Cannon, as well as from his coaching analytics-focused assistant in the G League, Alex Merg, he changed his mind. “Our whole philosophy was, let’s send everybody and let’s see how it works,” Barlow said. “Let’s see if the trade-off is a net positive.” The outcome was decisive. Maine won rebounding battle after rebounding battle, creating extra shooting chances more nights than not, all while its transition defense remained in the top half of the league. The team wasn’t tagging up, the strategy where it pins those opponents from behind, but a stampede of crashers meant the enemy couldn’t scamper in the opposite direction. Doing so would increase the chances of another offensive rebound.
In January 2022, Luke Kornet was sitting in a hotel room in Portland, Maine, feeling sorry for himself. He had just completed back-to-back 10-day contracts in the NBA with Cleveland and Milwaukee, having been waived by Boston in training camp the previous October. Now he was back with the Maine Celtics, back in the G League, back at square one, and fighting a losing battle with the gnawing feeling his basketball career was headed nowhere. “It felt like a last chance,” Kornet said. For a moment, the future Spurs center thought about giving up the dream entirely. He felt washed up at age 26.
I saw that Cooper was able to meet up with Dirk at his event. Were you able to be a part of that? Matt MacKenzie: I was not. I was in Dallas that week, but I went back to Maine just a couple of days before the weekend. Cooper had to get his wisdom teeth taken out. So I came back to Maine. We were hopeful that he was going to be able to recover quickly so he could be at Dirk’s event. I know it was very important for him to be there not only to support Dirk, but to continue to build that relationship. Obviously, he has a ton of respect for Dirk Nowitzki and his career and what he meant to Dallas. So he wanted to make sure he could make an appearance, even if it was just for a short time this past weekend. I was hopeful that I could’ve been there. But it was just Cooper. He said that it was a good time and he was feeling just good enough to spend some time with Dirk and his people.
A farm in central Maine has revealed its corn maze for the upcoming fall season is designed in honor of Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NBA draft and a former employee of the farm. Thunder Road Farm in Corinna shared a photo of the maze design on social media. The maze shows Flagg rising up to a hoop to dunk a basketball and features the words "Cooper, The Maine Event."
Our 2025 theme of the corn maize!!!! OUR VERY OWN COOPER FLAGG. 🏀 🌽 🏀🌽🏀🌽🏀🌽🏀
Posted by Thunder Road Farm Corn Maize on Sunday, July 20, 2025
Suddenly, a video started playing of the Skowhegan factory, countless assembly lines within it and the process of a custom pair of basketball shoes being made. At one point, the father of one of Flagg’s former grassroots teammates — who still works at the facility — made an appearance. Then another worker shortly thereafter, proudly proclaiming that, “Cooper Flagg being from Maine and being the basketball prodigy that he is, it just gives you that sense of pride.” Eventually, the 53-second clip ended with a still shot of the gray shoes, with “FLAGG” stitched directly onto the tongue. As the lights came up inside the Four Seasons conference room, Lokesh pulled out his grand finale: The pair of custom shoes from the video, straight from Maine, still the only pair of Cooper Flagg New Balances in existence. “It was pretty cool to see that video and the Maine shoes and some familiar faces,” Flagg told The Athletic. “That meeting, going through their plans and kind of the future they saw for me, it just aligned really well with the future that I saw for myself.”
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Governor Janet Mills has proclaimed June 25, 2025, as “Cooper Flagg Day” to celebrate the Maine native’s remarkable basketball achievement. The 18-year-old from Newport, Maine, is universally projected to be the first pick in Wednesday night's NBA Draft.
Bobby Manning: Joe Mazzulla credits good chemistry between Maine's coaching staff and players for their success this year. Said Tyler Lashbrook has always been a good coach and went to Maine with an idea for how he wanted to coach them.
The Maine Celtics playoffs begin on Tuesday night against the Capital City Go-Go, and the Celtics’ G League affiliate will be bolstered by the addition of Jordan Walsh, who will be joining his former Maine teammates.
Blake Murphy: Ochai Agbaji (hip) is doubtful Saturday. Mogbo, Omoruyi, and the 2-ways will be with Raptors 905 for a Fri/Sat back-to-back in Maine.
Bobby Manning: Baylor Scheierman and Jordan Walsh joining Maine today, coming off the bench. Game airing now on NBCSB
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Bobby Manning: Lonnie Walker can join Maine for some amount of time and receive a bonus or pursue other NBA opportunities. He told me earlier this training camp he was willing to begin the year in the G-League, as he didn’t have other NBA opportunities over the summer.
Bobby Manning: Sources: #Celtics waived Ron Harper Jr., Jay Scrubb and Hason Ward today. All three likely Maine bound. Lonnie Walker IV remains on the roster for now. Deadline to make a decision on him is 5PM on Saturday.
Lonnie Walker: “Brad Stevens mentioned there’s a possibility that I might spend some time in the G-League with Maine, and honestly, I’m perfectly fine with that … you gotta take it on the chin, you gotta continue to work, you gotta continue to be prepared and just keep being ready.”
As for Duke, they open the non-conference Nov. 4 against Maine (Flagg’s home state) at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and will also face Kentucky, Arizona and preseason No. 1 Kansas in November. While Duke is a projected Top-10 team, Rutgers is at No. 25 per ESPN with high hopes of a March Madness run. “We’re going to be better (than the Fab Five)!” Harper told NJ Advance Media at the time of his commitment. “Y’all should be excited. We’re going to be a force to be reckoned with. In my eyes, ain’t no team in the country better than us. Our goal is definitely the national championship. Definitely.”