Cooper Flagg is already dominating the NBA, and he's still just a teenager. Just imagine what he's going to be when he can legally drink. Or rent a car. Or come off his parents' insurance.
Coming off a Rookie of the Year award-winning season a year ago, the former Duke star is ascending into superstardom in year two.
Three games into his sophomore NBA campaign with the Dallas Mavericks, Flagg is averaging 25/5/6 and 5.4 stocks per game with 57/36/90 shooting splits. And that's with one of the three games he's played in being cut short due to an injury; he only played 17 minutes against the Pacers as a result or his averages would be even higher.
Against the Miami Heat on Monday, Flagg looked like the best player on a court that included two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounpo. Flagg's all-around game was on full display: he dropped 29 points with 6 rebounds, 11 assists, and had 8 stocks (steals + blocks).
He made critical plays down the stretch to get the win for the Mavs, including a key sequence with under 40 seconds to play. Leading by two, Flagg blocked what looked like an open corner three from Andrew Wiggins. He then came down the court, isolated his defender, and took it to the rim for a basket to put Dallas up by four:
Cooper Flagg DELIVERED in the clutch for Dallas 💪
— NBA (@NBA) October 27, 2026
He blocked the 3-pointer with 31.1 secs left, then raced to the rim for the layup to extend the lead to 4 with 10 secs left to help the Mavs seal the road W! pic.twitter.com/LNX27E3inq
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called Cooper Flagg 'a force of nature'
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra took some time during his postgame press conference after another difficult loss to offer praise on Flagg's performance and his overall ability:
“He’s an absolute winning player," Spoelstra said, via Mavs beat writer Mike Curtis. "A force of nature with his style of play. He’s gonna impose his competitive nature on every single possession. For a young player, I think that’s unique that he can impact a game without scoring.”
The scariest part about Flagg is that he's still just scratching the surface of the player he's going to become. He's nowhere near his prime, and yet he's already one of the best players in the league. Flagg is doing things no other teenager in NBA history has ever done, and looks like a legitimate MVP candidate already.
Flagg's developmental track was always going to lead to superstardom. But even his most ardent supporters probably didn't expect him to be this good, this fast. The NBA is hard. There's a transition period for almost everyone.
Not for Flagg, who is building upon a historic rookie season and already leaping toward the upper echelon of players in the league before his 20th birthday.
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