It was supposed to be a celebration of the next generation of NBA talent. But instead of headlines about Cooper Flagg’s game or the drama of draft night, ESPN found itself at the center of controversy—again. And this time, it wasn’t because of analysis gone wrong, but because one of its own took a detour that left viewers stunned and fed up.

On *First Take*, Peter Rosenberg—best known not for basketball but for wrestling banter—decided to spin Cooper Flagg’s No. 1 overall selection into something else entirely. According to him, what makes Flagg such a compelling storyline isn’t just his skill. It’s that he’s white and American. And in the blink of an eye, the conversation swerved away from basketball IQ or Dallas Mavericks fit and into a head-on collision with race, history, and cringe-worthy comparisons.

Rosenberg argued that Flagg could stir the NBA the way Caitlin Clark has impacted the WNBA, citing her visibility and mass appeal. But that take missed—badly. First, Clark’s popularity isn’t because she’s white. It’s because she’s a once-in-a-generation player who hits logo threes and rewrites record books. Elena Delle Donne and Breanna Stewart, also white, were already WNBA MVPs before Clark even hit college. So what exactly is the argument here?

And second, Flagg is being hyped because he’s *really* good. Just like Victor Wembanyama before him. Just like LeBron James, Zion Williamson, or Anthony Davis. The buzz isn’t about where he’s from or what he looks like—it’s what he does on the court. But Rosenberg reduced that narrative to something far smaller. Fans noticed. And they pushed back.

Some asked why Rosenberg, a wrestling commentator, was even making these calls. Others simply said what most were thinking: talent is talent, and this weird obsession with race-driven framing says more about the broadcaster than the player.

Cooper Flagg may very well become a franchise cornerstone in Dallas. But what won’t help him—or ESPN—is commentary that turns athletic brilliance into a tired identity debate.