Cooper Flagg got his first taste of NBA action on Thursday night, as the Dallas Mavericks opened the NBA Summer League against Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers. The first overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft was ready to get to work, and Dallas planned to test him.
Jason Kidd wanted Cooper Flagg to play a lot of point guard in the Summer League, knowing that the better he develops his handle, the better the team will be as they wait for Kyrie Irving to recover from ACL surgery. The Lakers, knowing that, blitzed him and pressed him early and often.
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Dallas Mavericks first overall pick Cooper Flagg
Jun 27, 2025; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks first overall pick Cooper Flagg speaks to the media during a press conference at the Dallas Mavericks Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
There were some noticeable jitters in the opening minutes of the game, as Flagg was unsure of how to attack the Lakers' defense and missed his first two shots of the game. Once he got on the board, though, he did it with authority.
The Mavericks forced a turnover that Flagg scooped up, and he took it coast-to-coast in transition to slam it home through traffic with the one-handed spike.
COOPER FLAGG'S FIRST BUCKET IN A MAVS UNIFORM IS A BIG-TIME SLAM ‼️#NBA2KSummerLeague on ESPN pic.twitter.com/h7Ta564bS8
— NBA (@NBA) July 11, 2025
That dunk opened the floodgates for Flagg, as he came down on the next possession and hit a turnaround fade in the post, then got an and-one on a transition layup a few possessions later. It's clear he's still adjusting to his role in the Summer League and the ball pressure that the Lakers were applying in a Summer League game.
By the end of the first quarter, Flagg had 6 points, a steal, and a rebound, but he was just 3/9 from the floor.
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