'I Just Don’t Want People to Think the Good Game Was a Fluke:' Cooper Flagg Asked Dallas Mavericks if He Could Play in Third Summer League Game

Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg only played in two Summer League games in Las Vegas. The plan all along was for the first pick in this year’s NBA Draft to play just two games.

However, Flagg asked the Mavericks if he could play in the team’s third Summer League game.

“Since we selected him, he’s been everything we thought he’d be and even more,” a Mavericks front office executive told Keith Smith of Spotrac. “Tremendous kid on and off the court. Here’s a good story for you: He shot like crap in his first game here (Las Vegas). Second game he dominated. We had a plan to play only two games. Cooper comes to us and the coaches and asks to play a third game. We laughed and told him, ‘No. You’re good.’

“And he goes, ‘I just don’t want people to think the good game was a fluke.’ All we could do was laugh, but it shows how much he wants to be great.”

Cooper Flagg shot 5-of-21 from the field and 0-of-5 from beyond the arc in his Summer League debut against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Duke product finished with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes.

Flagg bounced back in a big way in his second Summer League outing against the San Antonio Spurs. The youngster went off for 31 points while shooting 10-of-21 from the field and 3-of-9 from beyond the arc, showing the entire world why the Mavericks drafted him with the first pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

“It pays to be lucky, right? Dallas got a generational talent when those lottery balls bounced their way,” an Eastern Conference GM told Smith. “That kid is unbelievable. You knew after he played like crap in the first game out here that he was going to be great the next time out. He’s an ass-kicker. Wish we had that kind of luck.”