Cooper Flagg joins LeBron James as the only 18-year-old NBA players to record a 30-point game
Cooper Flagg is the future of the Dallas Mavericks. It could also be the present.
With a 35-point performance against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, the phenom joined LeBron James as the only 18-year-olds to ever score a 30-point game in the NBA. Flagg did it at 18 years and 343 days. James did it the first of three times at 18 years and 334 days.
Announcement
However, Flagg is the only player to ever score 35 points at that age. He finished Saturday’s 114-110 win with 13-of-22 shooting plus eight rebounds and two assists.
This comes just one day after Flagg became the youngest player in NBA history to dish 10 assists in a game, reaching the milestone against James and the Lakers. Then he set an NBA mark for most points and assists at his age in each leg of a consecutive game.
After the firing of general manager Nico Harrison – a tacit admission that the Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis trade was indeed a disaster for the franchise – there is no doubt that turning Flagg into a superstar is now the first and second priorities for the Mavericks, whose record still stands at 6-15.
Announcement
The Mavericks got lucky with Flagg, one of the most touted NBA Draft prospects since James, winning the lottery last spring. The team chose him instead of trading up the pick, as some thought they would consider since they wanted to compete this season, and gave him the starting point guard job out of the gate due to a lack of guard depth.
Being an 18 year old in the NBA is tough. Being an 18-year-old primary ballhandler is even tougher, especially when your team looks like a contender. It was a bit of a rough start for Flagg, who averaged 13.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.3 turnovers while shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from 3-point range in his first 10 games.
Over the next 10 games, however, Flagg averaged 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.0 turnovers, shooting 51.3 percent from the field and 23.7 percent from deep. These are still pretty small sample sizes, but a teenager who tends to get like this after his first taste of NBA action is nothing.
Announcement
The fact that Flagg is even in the NBA at this age is an accomplishment, made possible by reclassifying in high school and joining Duke at 17. Becoming an effective starter at this age isn’t something we’ve ever seen outside of James, who is great company to have when you’re a do-it-all player like Flagg.