Just days after the Dallas Mavericks announced a Mexico City game against the Detroit Pistons, Doc’s Sports released a new study revealing that the top NBA prospects are entering the 2025 NBA Draft with surprising social media power — and led by Cooper Flagg.
Flagg, 18, has already been making more than five times the next highest player — raking in six figures from social media before ever stepping onto an NBA court. Read on for further details, per Doc’s Sports.
Cooper Flagg Earns 5X More On Social Media
Cooper Flagg is the Dallas Mavericks’ likely No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Flagg is also the frontrunner among the top 50 NBA prospects, with a projected social media income of $255,511 a year.
According to Doc’s Sports, Flagg earns more than the bottom 40 NBA prospects combined — underscoring how rare and valuable his digital presence truly is. Over half of NBA prospects analyzed earn less than $5,000 a year from social media — showing how few players have monetized their digital presence.
Who Trails Cooper Flagg?
Cooper Flagg isn’t the only NBA prospect mentioned in Doc’s Sports’ new study. Ace Bailey is in second place earning $45,299 a year. Bailey, 18, is followed by Walter Clayton Jr. Clayton Jr., 22, earns $26,846 a year.
Final Thoughts
Cooper Flagg is one of the many Generation Z athletes who enter a professional sports league with a built-in fanbase, social media influence, and income powered purely by social media. Flagg’s social media income potential shows the power of social media platforms, such as Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter).
Flagg’s projected social media income of $255,511 is a far cry from fellow Dallas basketball star Paige Bueckers. Bueckers, 23, currently plays for the Dallas Wings of the WNBA. Bueckers’ projected social media income is $1,047,096 a year. Over four times that of Flagg.
The stark contrast between Flagg and Bueckers’ projected social media incomes proves that social media remains as supplemental income to NBA prospects’ substantial salaries in the league as opposed to the WNBA prospects. Flagg is projected to sign a four-year, $62.7 million contract, with $13.8 million arriving in the first year, per Sportrac.
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