The professional debut of No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg coincided with a matchup against Bronny James. But when the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers met on the NBA Summer League court Thursday in Las Vegas, it was an undrafted Gonzaga product who stole the show.
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Mavericks point guard Ryan Nembhard scored a team-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 1 of 2 on 3-pointers, to help Dallas win 87-85. He also tied for the game-high in assists with five, added a steal and two rebounds while making three turnovers, and played a game-high 32 minutes, 33 seconds.
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Nembhard played the final two seasons of his college career at Gonzaga after transferring from Creighton, making the All-WCC first team each year and leading the entire NCAA in assists as a senior in 2024-25. The 6-foot guard signed a two-way contract with the Mavericks after going undrafted in the NBA Draft late last month.
He’s not only the Gonzaga alum with the same last name in the league. His brother, guard Andrew Nembhard, plays a key role for the Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers.
Ryan Nembhard also isn’t the only Gonzaga product with the Mavericks. Dallas also has guard Nolan Hickman, a Seattle native who attended Eastside Catholic in Sammamish, on its Summer League roster. Hickman did not play Thursday against the Lakers.
Flagg, who starred at Duke, finished with 10 points on 5-for-21 shooting, including 0 for 5 from 3-point range. The rookie also had six rebounds, four assists, three steals and the biggest block of the night.
Flagg may not have been happy with his professional debut, but he still drew some rave reviews after the Mavericks won.
“Super fun to play with, he’s a super unselfish guy,” Nembhard said. “All he wants to do is win. Can guard five positions, can score the ball really well.”
With 1:10 remaining and the Mavericks trailing by one, Flagg blocked Los Angeles shooting guard DJ Steward, and Nembhard capitalized at the other end with a 3-pointer to give Dallas its 87-85 lead.
Cooper BLOCK
Nembhard BUCKET pic.twitter.com/vPvzsj9cRW
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) July 11, 2025
“Obviously, it wasn’t his night tonight, but the gravity he has out there helps other guys get good looks,” Nembhard added. “He’s a super talent, and it’s been fun to play with him so far.”
Mavericks summer league coach Josh Broghamer said considering the team had just four practices to get acclimated with one another before arriving in Las Vegas, he was impressed with the effort in the second half.
“Once they played basketball, you saw that ball moving. Cooper making the right decisions, Ryan making our decisions, Jordan Hall, so that was something to me that by second half, those guys all played basketball together,” Broghamer said.
Bronny James, the son of Lakers star LeBron James, scored eight points on 2-for-8 shooting in 20:51 played.
The Associated Press contributed to this post.
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