Cooper Flagg Talks NBA Debut, 'Incredible' Wemby 'Something I've Never Seen Before'
Even though Cooper Flagg's NBA debut didn't go in the way he was hoping as the Dallas Mavericks fell 125-92 to the San Antonio Spurs, the 18-year-old was able to appreciate what Victor Wembanyama with 40 points and 15 rebounds in 30 minutes.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Flagg praised Wembanyama's "incredible" performance as "something I've never seen before."
"He is incredible. He is a different player," Flagg said of the Spurs superstar. "You can't know what it's like until you're out there on the court with him. It's something I've never seen before. He was great tonight, but we've got to do a better job of trying to just take away some of his looks, and we can't foul him as much as we did."
As for his own emotions from his professional debut, Flagg admitted he was "excited" at the start of the game and to keep going in his rookie season while acknowledging he has work to do after scoring 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
"Not great," Flagg said when asked how he played. "Obviously, didn't play incredibly well, but we've got to move past it, turn our focus and start looking toward Friday [against the Washington Wizards]."
Even though Flagg's shooting touch wasn't present in his first career game, Mavs head coach Jason Kidd was positive on the rookie phenom's overall performance.
"I thought he played well. Now, the stat line is not going to say that, but no one in this room is sitting in his shoes. As a rookie, he did fine and he's going to learn from this game. We all will, and we'll be better next time we take the floor," Kidd told reporters.
Flagg did finish with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. He's the first No. 1 overall pick to have a double-double in their first career game since Deandre Ayton in 2018.
Anthony Davis pointed out the magnitude of this game being on national television and promoted around the first meeting between Flagg and Wembanyama is a lot for anyone to take, particularly an 18-year-old rookie, and things will be fine going forward:
"Game one. I mean, he's still a rookie. You're coming in and preseason was obviously good, but when that game one comes around [in a] packed stadium, national TV game ... I'm not sure if he's a social media guy or not, but you saw it—everything was No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg and Wemby match up and all this stuff. So you start hearing it, and I'm not sure if it got to him, but it's first-game jitters when it's time for the real thing. So he'll be fine."
The first half, in particular, was a struggle for Flagg offensively. He was held scoreless on just two field-goal attempts in 17 minutes.
Coming out of the break, Flagg looked more comfortable with 10 points in 15 minutes. His efficiency wasn't great, making four of his 11 field-goal attempts, but the most important thing is he started taking shots.
Kidd put a lot on Flagg's plate by also using him as the starting point guard in a big lineup that also features Davis, P.J. Washington, Dereck Lively II and Klay Thompson.
The plan backfired in this game because Flagg didn't record an assist, and Dallas scored just eight points on 19 possessions when he brought the ball up the floor, per ESPN's Tim MacMahon.
All of this is a learning experience for Flagg that is designed to help him get acclimated to the NBA quicker. There are going to be some growing pains along the way, but not every matchup will be this difficult because few teams have a superstar on the other side like Wembanyama.
Flagg and the Mavericks will look to bounce back on Friday when they host the Washington Wizards.
