The Dallas Mavericks may have lost their last four games, but it’s clear they drafted a superstar in No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg.
The Duke product scored 34 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the 111-107 loss to the Houston Rockets, and delivered a 49-point explosion on 20 of 29 shooting in the 123-121 loss Thursday to the Charlotte Hornets. It marked the most points scored by a teenager in NBA history, and Flagg’s second 40-point game. LeBron James and Anthony Edwards are the only other teens to drop 40 points in multiple NBA games.
It took Flagg some time to get rolling at the next level, and part of that was because he was called upon to be a primary ball-handler. Following Dallas’ loss to Houston, a reporter asked coach Jason Kidd about the criticism he took for that decision, and he went off on an epic rant.
“I don’t give a f— about the criticism. Criticism? That’s your opinion. You guys write that bullshit,” Kidd said. “That’s not — I’ve done this. I’ve played this game. I’ve played it at a very high level. I know what the f— I’m doing.
“But I don’t give a f— what you guys write. Because you guys have never played the game. And so I build players. So I know what the f— I’m doing. So to take criticism, it only makes me better. Because if I wasn’t doing it right you guys wouldn’t be poking holes in what I’ve done.”
In Flagg’s first seven games at point guard, he averaged 13.6 points per contest, 6.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.1 turnovers while shooting 38.8% from the field. If one zooms out and examines his rookie season at large, Flagg averages 19.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 48.4% from the field.
“I think it’s a lot of pressure and a lot of responsibility that comes with being a point guard, and I don’t know if I was ready for that or if I was ready to handle that right off the bat,” Flagg said in November, per ESPN. “I tried my best, and I mean, that’s not to say I can’t go back to it and can’t work on it and get better, but I think it’s just worked out where it’s been better to have somebody else helping out, relieving pressure. … It wasn’t perfect, but I think I learned a lot through that.”
Flagg will look to stay hot and get the Mavs back into the win column on Tuesday against the Boston Celtics.
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