Utah, Poor Cooper Flagg Had a Tough Draw

Shower Thought - October 23, 2025

Movie people say that 1994 was one of the best years for movies ever. You had The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, and a couple of others. I always felt bad for Shawshank, my personal favorite, because it opened at a bad time. Nobody saw it. On opening night, the director, Frank Darabont, and a producer went to a theater in L.A., and they were the only ones there. Shawshank is one of the best movies ever, but it opened against Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump was the biggest movie ever. Tom Hanks shaking hands with JFK, dancing with Elvis, talking with John Lennon, Nixon—'Run, Forrest, Run!' It was a unique monster of a movie that completely overshadowed Shawshank. Everyone was watching Forrest.

Last night, Cooper Flagg had his opening night. He is a huge deal—a star from Duke, the #1 draft pick, the 'great white hope,' the next Durant, and so on. The problem is, he opened against the biggest freak show in sports right now: the best player I've ever seen, the 12-foot-tall Victor Wembanyama. Wembanyama made Cooper Flagg look like a kindergartner. He made Anthony Davis look like Angel Reese. Wembanyama is truly that good, and what he does is surreal to watch. Flagg will go on to be a great player and win a bunch of awards, but on opening night, everyone was watching Victor.

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