Cooper Flagg already looks like the real deal, and apparently, he wanted another shot to prove it.
After a quiet Summer League debut, the Dallas Mavericks forward bounced back with a dominant 31-point outing against the Spurs.
But instead of walking away on that high note, Flagg reportedly pushed the Mavericks to let him run it back one more time.
“Since we selected him, he’s been everything we thought he’d be and even more,” a Mavs front office exec told Spotrac’s Keith Smith. “Tremendous kid on and off the court. Here’s a good story for you: He shot like crap in his first game. Second game he dominated. We had a plan to play only two games. Cooper comes to the 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.”
Flagg’s first performance came against the Lakers, where he finished with just 10 points and missed all five of his shots from deep. But in Game 2, he flipped the script, attacking the rim, shooting with confidence, and showing off the high-level motor that made him the No. 1 overall pick in June.
Dallas stuck to their original plan to shut him down after two games, keeping their top rookie fresh ahead of the regular season.
Still, the fact that Flagg wanted to keep hooping says everything.
It’s not about the stat line. He just doesn’t want to leave any doubt.
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