Cooper Flagg Says Mavs Have to Be 'A Lot Better' After 0-2 Start to 2025-26 NBA Season
Dallas Mavericks rookie superstar Cooper Flagg gave an honest assessment of the team's performance following a 117-107 home loss to the Washington Wizards on Friday night.
Speaking to reporters after the Mavs fell to 0-2 on the season, Flagg preached the importance of more consistent play from start to finish.
"The fans showed up. They were amazing tonight," Flagg said. "I thought we were competing at a high level in that fourth quarter. A lot of things were right—getting stops, playing the way that we want to play, and that kind of sums it up. It was just periods tonight, and we got to be able to sustain that for the whole game. I think we took somewhat of a step in the right direction, but it has to be a lot better."
Flagg, who was the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft after being named National College Player of the Year following his freshman season at Duke, enjoyed the best game of his young career on Friday.
In his NBA regular-season debut, Flagg had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but he shot just 4-of-13 from the field. Against the Wizards, he improved to 18 points on 6-for-14 shooting to go along with six assists, five rebounds, one block and one steal.
Between the second and third quarters, the Wizards outscored the Mavericks by 20 points on Friday. The Mavericks closed strong by outscoring the Wizards 29-26 in the fourth quarter, but it was nowhere near enough.
The Mavs were undone by sloppy basketball, committing 21 turnovers and allowing the Wizards to hit 41.7 percent of their three-point attempts.
When the Mavericks lucked out and landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, there was hope for an instant return to championship contention, as Dallas already boasted a core of three potential future Hall of Famers in Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson.
Irving has yet to play due to his recovery from a torn ACL, though, and the Mavs have looked disjointed amid an 0-2 start.
Prior to the 10-point loss to Washington, the Mavericks were blown out 125-92 by the San Antonio Spurs in their season opener.
The San Antonio loss was understandable given the dominance of Victor Wembanyama, but losing to a Wizards team that is widely expected to be among the worst in the NBA this season may be cause of concern.
Flagg's comments suggest he knows the Mavs' play thus far hasn't been good enough, which could possibly serve as a challenge for the team to turn in a better showing their next time out against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
