Mavs' Cooper Flagg ties LeBron James' young player NBA scoring record to the exact day

Staff Writer
Mavs' Cooper Flagg ties LeBron James' young player NBA scoring record to the exact day image

On a crazy night in the NBA, one filled with buzzer beaters and exceptional performances, it would've been easy to miss the moment that Cooper Flagg fully arrived.

But that happened for the 18-year-old Dallas Mavericks rookie, the No. 1 overall pick out of Duke, the potential savior for a franchise that momentarily tarnished its future with a terrible trade. It was just one play, but it said everything.

Flagg, in a neck-and-neck showdown with the Milwaukee Bucks, caught the ball on the right wing in heavy traffic. He spun away from his defender, a move not unlike the one that NHL superstar Connor McDavid was doing about the same time on ice far away.

The spin created space and a runway to the rim, with one problem: Giannis Antetokounmpo was waiting.

The Greek superstar was there, ready to deter Flagg, who would not be deterred. He rose up through contact, through Antetokounmpo, and finished. If this had been the other way, MVP through rookie, it's likely an and-1.

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The Mavericks didn't win the basketball game, not quite, as a late non-call led to a Bucks steal to ice the game.

Flagg, though, had his best NBA performance. He finished with 26 points.

In the process, he tied LeBron James as the youngest player to ever score at least 25 points in an NBA game, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon.

And incredibly, he didn't just tie LeBron by being 18. He tied him because they were both 18 years and 324 days old when they first broke the 25-point barrier.

Flagg's NBA story has many, many chapters still to be written.

But this night may just have been the eye-catching start of his incredible story.

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