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Cooper Flagg’s “Welcome to the NBA Moment” wasn’t his first missed shot. The alley-oop attempt clattered off the rim and would have been the first points of the game.
It wasn’t the time for him to throw a pass to a fan in the front row because he thought one of his Dallas Mavericks teammates would be waiting.
Not even when he took the handoff and ultimately made his first career shot, a jumper from the top of the key.
It was early in the second quarter when he had possession of the ball on the left side. Guarding the flag was last year’s Rookie of the Year, Spurs guard Stephon Castle, an athletic and active defender.
Flagg attempted a lazy pass, but Castle deflected it, scooped it up and ran down the court for a transition layup. Rather than let the mistake go, Flagg made it worse by committing a foul on an and-1 chance.
It was proof that the standards here would be different.
The No. 1 overall selection’s long-awaited debut was eventful — Flagg didn’t score his first point until the first possession of the second half — but just as he did at Duke and as he did in the preseason, he did the little things that contributed to the win.
Although the Mavericks lost 125-92 to the San Antonio Spurs, Flagg’s performance should still give Dallas plenty of optimism.
Flagg hit just 1-of-9 from the field, but caught fire late in the third quarter and made three straight shots. He finished with 10 points.
He also struggled defensively, grabbing 10 rebounds for the first double-double of his career. He tried to increase the tempo on the floor. These are all traits that encourage the Mavericks to hone in on Flagg.
And for Dallas, it makes a lot of sense to be patient as star point guard Kyrie Irving will be out for at least most of the regular season as he recovers from a torn ACL.
While the Mavericks face relatively low outside expectations early in the season, Flagg can adapt. It’s going to allow Flagg to make a mistake, like the turnover in the second quarter.
To prove that point, all Dallas has to do is look to Wednesday night’s opponent. San Antonio intentionally used the genius Victor Wembaneyama and limited his playing time during his rookie season in 2023-24. The Spurs encouraged Wembaneyama to bulk up and get in shape to learn the speed of the NBA game.
On Wednesday night, Wenbanyama dropped 40 points on 15-of-21 shooting (71.4%) and grabbed 15 rebounds. He could blossom into an MVP candidate again this season, and is already a front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year.
Wenbanyama and Flag are very different players, so your progress will never be exactly the same.
But Flagg won’t turn 19 until late December. He’s going to learn something new every time he plays early on.
That alone should be enough to get the Mavericks excited.
