Cooper Flag seemed a bit unsure during his debut, but things took a turn in his second summer league game. The 18-year-old scored 31 points while shooting 21-10 against the Spurs on Saturday, leading all scorers.
Still, the Mavericks couldn’t secure the win, falling 76-69. San Antonio’s rookie Dylan Harper was the standout for his team, racking up 16 points, six rebounds, and two steals.
“I definitely felt a little more comfortable,” Flag shared with reporters afterward. “I just took lots of the same shots I took in my last game and trusted them, and today I got a little better.”
This performance followed a rocky introduction to summer league basketball. In his first outing with the Lakers, the top pick of the 2025 draft managed only 10 points, with a less-than-stellar shooting performance.
The ACC Player of the Year struggled to score towards the end of that game, though the Mavericks scraped by with an 87-85 victory, thanks to Lakers guard Bronnie James missing a last-second three-pointer.
Post-game, Flag was pretty honest about how he felt he played on Thursday. “I really couldn’t get into rhythm,” he admitted. “It’s a different environment and it’s obviously very different from college. It’s probably not at all like what a real NBA game would be like.”
Reflecting on his debut, he added, “I think it might be one of the worst games of my life, but we got a victory, and that’s what really matters to me.”
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd has emphasized pushing Flag out of his comfort zone this summer. In comments made earlier, he expressed a desire to put Flag in the point guard position to see how he adapts.
“I want to make him uncomfortable and see how he reacts and can run the show,” Kidd said. “We want to push… It’s okay to fail. It’s okay to turn the ball over. We’ve talked about it.”
