NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates 
Last year, Cooper Flagg became the NBA’s youngest No. 1 overall pick since LeBron James in 2003. This year, while starring for the Dallas Mavericks, the do-it-all forward established himself as the youngest player in league history to post a 50-point game. Two days later, he put up 45 against James.
Flagg, the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year, is still only 19 years old. He’s going to grow with the Mavericks. It turns out that maturation isn’t limited to his play on the court or even his development as a leader and person.
Advertisement
Flagg told reporters Friday at Mavs media day that he literally grew over the past year. Listed at 6-foot-9 ahead of last season, Flagg said he’s now 6-foot-10 without shoes.
That makes him even more imposing threat on the hardwood. Flagg could already put on a show with thundering dunks and head-turning blocks.
The Duke product averaged 21 points as a rookie while also posting 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. Although he’ll aim to increase the 29.5% clip he recorded from beyond the arc, he finished his 70-game campaign with a solid 46.8% field-goal percentage.
Then-head coach Jason Kidd threw Flagg into the fire in Year 1. Kidd, a former Mavericks point guard himself, put the ball in Flagg’s hands from the get-go. Flagg worked out the inevitable kinks and eventually came into his own as the season progressed.
Advertisement
Now under the direction of new president and alternate governor Masai Ujiri, new general manager Mike Schmitz and new head coach Dusty May, the Mavericks have, in Ujiri’s words from this spring, “a clean slate to go forward.”
They’re molding the team around Flagg and 34-year-old guard Kyrie Irving, who is coming off ACL surgery.
Irving spoke glowingly about Flagg on Friday, expressing that it’s “very easy” for them to gel on the floor together.
“He deserves a lot of the praise he’s gotten because he’s carried a lot, and I commend him for that, respect him even more as a younger person for that,” Irving said of Flagg, who was the centerpiece point of a 26-win Mavs squad last season.
“He’s wise beyond his years, but I also have to remind him how old he is. He walks…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/mavs-cooper-flagg-says-hes-grown-an-inch-is-now-6-foot-10-without-shoes-173047483.html
Author : Andy Backstrom
Publish date : 2026-09-25 17:30:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
