For the next week, Duke’s Cooper Flagg will have the most talked-about ankle sprain in sports. How quickly it heals is the difference between the Blue Devils entering the NCAA tournament as the favorite to win the national title or as a No. 1 seed vulnerable to an upset.
Flagg suffered the ill-timed injury late in the first half of Duke’s ACC tournament quarterfinal win over Georgia Tech on Thursday. The celebrated freshman leaped for a rebound, landed awkwardly and crumpled to the floor wincing in pain and grabbing his left ankle.
When he could hardly put any weight on his left ankle walking to the Duke bench, Flagg buried his face in a towel and slammed his fist on a chair in frustration.