Cooper Flagg flourishing as of late with back-to-back record performances

Former Duke basketball freshman phenom and 2025 NBA Draft No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg dealt with some criticism through the early part of his rookie season with some efficiency issues, which comes with being a generational talent that Flagg is. But as of late, Flagg has been silencing the critics and has now backed up the hype around him with two straight record performances. The 18-year-old began the season starting at point guard, but Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd switched things up for Flagg to play in the frontcourt off the ball more, and he's been thriving. The rookie impacts the game in so many different ways on both sides of the ball, and his contributions are starting to pop off in the stat sheet.

The Mavericks haven't had the start to the 2025-26 campaign that they were looking for after entering the season with deep playoff aspirations. Dallas currently sits with a 6-15 record on the year, good for 12th place in the Western Conference. Much of that has to do with the inability of Anthony Davis and lackluster point guard play with Kyrie Irving sidelined after suffering a torn ACL late last season, but Flagg is beginning to flourish into a star in front of everybody's eyes.

Cooper Flagg showing true star potential with two record-setting nights in a row

Across the Mavs' last two outings, Flagg has put up phenomenal stat lines. On November 28th, in a 129-119 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, Flagg went for 13 points, seven rebounds, and 11 assists on 45.5% shooting from the floor. In a 114-110 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on November 29th, the rookie tallied a career-high 35 points on 22 shots to go along with eight rebounds on two assists.

Against the Lakers, Flagg became the youngest player in NBA history to record 10 or more assists in a game. The next night, Flagg became the second-youngest player in league history to record 30 or more points scored in a game, only behind LeBron James.

Flagg has really begun to find his groove as a scorer, with five games of 20 or more points scored in November, as well as seven games with two or more steals. There were certainly some growing pains to start, but still, at just 18 years old, the top draft choice is starting to show fans his true star potential.

On the season, Flagg is now averaging 16.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.4 steals a night on 46.2% shooting from the field.