Cooper Flagg’s time at Duke and a powerhouse Florida prep program didn’t prepare the rookie phenom for this aspect of the NBA.
The 2025 No. 1 pick acknowledged the weight that losing in his rookie season has taken on him, after a 101-99 home loss to the lowly Pelicans on Wednesday dropped the Mavericks to 2-6.
Flagg experienced just four losses in his lone season with the Blue Devils.
“For me, it’s the most I’ve lost since, ya know, I think ever? It’s obviously a lot different and you have to adapt to playing a lot more games and get used to that,” Flagg said. “I wouldn’t say anybody’s happy, guys try to stay level-headed and know that we got a lot more games to go and it’s still really early.
“Speaking personally, I know it’s not fun to just keep losing and losing games, so (would) like to make a change and hopefully start taking steps in the right direction.”
Though the Mavericks are better than the usual team that would pick first, Kyrie Irving’s potential season-long absence and Anthony Davis being sidelined currently have limited the team’s upside.
Veteran Klay Thompson is also enduring the worst start to a season of his career, averaging a career-low 8.5 points per game. The team moved him to a reserve role for the first time Wednesday.
Dallas has largely been competitive, but has often ended up on the wrong side of close games, with Wednesday’s two-point setback marking a third straight loss and the fourth in five games.
Wednesday’s game came down to one final play with the ball in Flagg’s hands.
Trailing by two with less than 10 seconds remaining, he took a shot in the lane but missed, and the Pelicans corralled the rebound to escape with the win.
Flagg, who won a state title in Maine before transferring to powerhouse Montverde Academy (Fla.), tallied 20 points and nine rebounds in 35 minutes.
“We got to a good spot, somewhere I was able to get throughout the second half of the game, though I got to a good spot, put one up on the rim, it just didn’t fall,” Flagg said.
Flagg is enjoying a strong start to his rookie year, averaging 14.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
He’s scored at least 10 points in each game aside from a two-point disaster against the Thunder on Oct. 27, and notched his first double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds on Oct. 29 against the Pacers.
The Mavericks figure to contend for a playoff spot this year, provided Davis is healthy, and they return to the court Friday on the road against Memphis.
Despite all the losses, Flagg said he’s appreciating the learning experience.
“Some great defenders, some great competitors. It’s been fun to be able to compete at a high level,” Flagg said. “There’s a lot I can look back on and a lot of film to watch and learn from playing against good defenders like that. Some good learning experiences and moments to look back on and hopefully improve.”
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