Kendrick Perkins Named the Young NBA Player Who Reminds Him of LeBron James

The 2025-26 NBA regular season is almost upon us, and several young players will be heading into this basketball year, hoping to take major leaps in their development.

LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant are not getting any younger, and while Nikola Jokic is the best player in the world, the mantle of “face of the NBA” is still up for grabs.

Jokic is more like Tim Duncan, whose slightly reserved personality and fundamental-based play did not make him as marketable as several other athletes of his generation.

While Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama are two potential candidates for this role, Kendrick Perkins believes another young player could take over the league in the near future.

And the former NBA champion believes this teenager has a similar skill set and upside to LeBron James.

Kendrick Perkins revealed the NBA rookie who reminds him of LeBron James

Kendrick Perkins has rarely been as high on a young player as he is in this case, and the ESPN analyst is a firm believer in someone who hasn’t made his NBA debut yet.

On a segment of NBA Today, Perkins tabbed Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg as a superstar in the making, giving the 18-year-old the ultimate compliment with his player comparison.

Cooper Flagg is widely considered a generational talent going into his NBA career

Dallas Mavericks shocked the NBA world when they won the lottery to select Cooper Flagg in this year’s draft. The No. 1 pick out of Duke had an incredible freshman season in Durham, winning National College Player of the Year and leading the Blue Devils back to the Final Four.

What’s even more impressive about Flagg’s freshman campaign is that he reclassified up a grade, meaning that he was just 17 years old for a large chunk of his college career.

Unlike most No. 1 picks, the Newport, Maine native is joining a roster built to compete in the Western Conference immediately. The Dallas Mavericks have two Hall of Famers on their roster, Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, and are now adding a versatile forward who is capable of playing both on and off the ball.

Irving, however, is recovering from a torn ACL, which will keep him out until early 2026, meaning that Flagg will be tasked with running the point at certain times in his rookie season.

Perkins is bullish on that prospect, noting that the rookie has already shown an elite feel for the game as a passer. Flagg’s ability as an offensive creator will therefore be put to the test immediately, and he fortunately has a plethora of shooting talent around him.

Overall, the Mavericks’ rookie is already under the microscope heading into his season debut, but pundits like Perkins believe he’s built to succeed right away like LeBron James. It’s not surprising why that is a widespread belief considering Flagg’s skillset as both an offensive and defensive talent.

Dallas is ultimately in a weird spot because, despite this roster’s potential, Anthony Davis and Kyrie need to stay healthy for this team to compete for the Western Conference crown. Unfortunately, both of these future Hall of Famers are on the wrong side of 30 and have been very injury-prone in the past.

Nonetheless, this franchise’s future prospects entirely changed when they were given the opportunity to draft Flagg, especially if the teenager lives up to Perkins’ hype.