Cooper Flagg Joins LeBron in NBA History, What Did Mavs Rookie, Kidd and Klay Say?
Dallas Mavericks star rookie Cooper Flagg made some more history in Saturday night's 114-110 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Flagg dropped a career-high 35 points to spearhead the victory, and the 18-year-old is now the youngest player in NBA history to reach the 35-point mark in a game, per ESPN's Tim MacMahon. The only other player to score 35 points at the age of 18 was the legendary LeBron James, who was five days older than Flagg when he first reached the mark in December 2003 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"Being aggressive right now is obviously right for me, and that's what Coach has stressed to me," Flagg said after the win. "I've got to be aggressive, and we'll live with some of the mistakes, but you just have to be aggressive and trust all the work. My teammates are extremely confident in me, and I feel that. And when they're confident in me, it enables me to just be free up there."
Flagg's historic performance on Saturday came just 24 hours after he dished out 11 assists in a loss to James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night, the most ever for an 18-year-old.
"He's only 18 years old, but he seems like he's been in this league before," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. "He did it all tonight. He had the ball. You can call it point guard or whatever, but he ran the offense for us. He drove the ball. The ball touched the paint. He got to the rim, got to the free throw line, stepped up and made free throws for us late. Just his composure on both ends [was impressive]. He competes at a very high level. You saw that tonight, but you saw that last night, too."
Flagg had some ups and downs to start the year, but it appears that he's becoming more comfortable with each passing game. He scored 21 of his points in the first half and had eight points in the last three minutes of the fourth quarter to help close out the victory.
"Cooper's upside is limitless," Mavs shooting guard Klay Thompson said. "He has every tool to be great. Sometimes I can't believe he should be a freshman in college."
Thompson, who was a four-time champion with the Golden State Warriors, is Flagg's oldest teammate at 35 years old. The veteran scored 17 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter to support the youngster, and he feels this is just the beginning for the 2025 No. 1 pick.
"It's pretty cool to be a part of it" Thompson said, referring to the start of Flagg's career. "We all can be witnesses to what he's going to do for a long time."
