Can Cooper Flagg, Paige Bueckers reignite the Dallas basketball culture?

[RandySF]

How does one city get so lucky in hoops?

The Dallas Wings won the WNBA Draft lottery last November and drafted Connecticut star Paige Bueckers last month. Then on Monday, the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Draft Lottery.

The basketball gods have nodded in Dallas’ favor not once, but twice in a matter of months.

That’s two basketball teams in the same city now united by the hope that comes with the No. 1 pick after trying seasons. It’s the second time one city has held the top pick in the NBA and WNBA drafts in the same year. It happened in Cleveland in 2003, when the Cavaliers drafted LeBron James and the now-defunct Rockers drafted LaToya Thomas.

After the 2024 WNBA season and the 2024-25 NBA season, Dallas was a city looking for reasons to feel good about basketball. The Wings needed a fresh start on the court and in the front office. The Mavericks need something to ease the anger of fans stung by the shocking trade of superstar Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in February that made general manager Nico Harrison as popular as someone wearing a Jalen Hurts jersey at AT&T Stadium


https://sports.yahoo.com/article/cooper-flagg-paige-bueckers-reignite-100104551.html