Cooper Flagg walked into the Frost Bank Center on Friday night against one of the best teams in the Western Conference, played through a left wrist sprain, and put up 33 points against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. The Mavericks lost 139 to 120. Flagg led his team in scoring as he has done almost every single night this season. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, the basketball world was reminded again that this nineteen year old rookie is simply built differently from everyone around him.
Rookie Cooper Flagg of Newport had 33 points, six rebounds and five assists for Dallas, which has lost 11 of 13. The record does not reflect what Flagg has given this franchise. It never has. On a roster that sent eight players to the injury report for Friday’s game alone, he has been the only consistent source of production Dallas has had for months and the numbers at the end of this season tell a story that goes far beyond wins and losses.
Flagg’s 33 point performance on 13 of 25 shooting keeps him in position to join Michael Jordan as the only rookies in NBA history to lead their team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals for a full season. Michael Jordan. That is the name sitting beside his in the record book right now. For a teenager finishing his first year in the league on a rebuilding team with no supporting cast, that is a level of all around dominance that should genuinely stop people in their tracks.
Flagg shot 10 of 16 from the field in the first half, including 3 of 6 from three point range, to lead all scorers with 25 points at the break. It was the 14th 20 point half of his rookie season. Since the 1996-97 season, only Allen Iverson with 16 has recorded more halves with 20 or more points scored than Flagg has this year. The comparisons keep coming and they keep landing on the right names.
The Spurs were simply too much on this night. Victor Wembanyama had 40 points and 13 rebounds in his 65th game to become eligible for NBA awards. Wembanyama reaching award eligibility while dropping 40 on the Mavericks in the same breath is the kind of thing that reminds you the NBA’s future is going to be very fun to watch. Two generational players going at each other with the regular season on its last legs felt like a preview of many Aprils to come.
Away from the court, Flagg also showed this week that the bonds built at Duke do not disappear when the NBA Draft is over. Former Duke guard Darren Harris announced he is entering the NCAA transfer portal after his second season with the Blue Devils. Harris arrived in Durham as a top 40 recruit in a loaded 2024 Duke class that included Flagg and Kon Knueppel, but struggled to find consistent minutes throughout his two years in Durham. Flagg took to social media to publicly show his support for his former teammate, a quiet but meaningful gesture from a player who understands exactly what it feels like to have the eyes of the basketball world watching your every move.
Flagg made NBA history last week by becoming the first teen to score over 50 points in a game when he scored 51 points against the Orlando Magic, and on Sunday passed LeBron James for the most 40 point games by a teenager in NBA history. One regular season game remains. The Rookie of the Year votes are being counted. And Cooper Flagg is wrapping up the most historically significant teenage debut the NBA has seen in a generation.
