Cooper Flagg is different.
Very few 18-year olds have ever looked close to this comfortable in the NBA. Very few rookies of any age, for that matter. The Dallas Mavericks appear to have gotten a good one with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft out of Duke.
One place that Flagg is showing how special he is? The clutch moments.
He leads the NBA in game-tying plus lead-taking shots this season, and in those scenarios, he's shooting better than 70%:
I got two words for you: Cooper Flagg and Clutch Time, must see TV pic.twitter.com/c6h2Bl7Fhr
— Extra (@extrastats) December 17, 2025
Overall, Flagg is fourth in clutch points this season, behind just superstars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Maxey and Cade Cunningham.
Some of this has never been done before. A rookie has never topped the chart of the stat shown above, a stat that was first tracked in 1996-97.
Maybe a rookie way back in the day did it, a Wilt Chamberlain or Jerry West or Elgin Baylor or Larry Bird.
But in the era that stat has been tracked in, Flagg would stand along if he maintains his lead.
It's a long season, and maybe at some point Flagg hits a rookie wall. The league could start to adjust to his game and find ways to slow him down.
But Flagg showed in college, and has already shown this season, that he can adjust right back and be the best player on the floor before long. Don't be surprised if he keeps this up all season, and for many years of his career.
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