No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg made his highly-anticipated NBA debut in the Dallas Mavericks’ 125-92 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
Flagg didn’t live up to his sky-high expectations in his first professional appearance, scoring 10 points on 4 of 13 shooting from the field. The 18-year-old rookie also had three turnovers to go along with his 10 rebounds.
Through 32 minutes of action, Flagg had the worst plus/minus on the team (-29).
Head coach Jason Kidd and the Mavericks deployed Flagg as the team’s primary ball handler at the point guard position — a role he rarely took during his NCAA National Player of the Year season with the Duke Blue Devils.
The Mavericks faced some significant public criticism over this decision, with many arguing Flagg would be more effective as an off-ball slasher.
More Basketball: Mavericks Make Bold Cooper Flagg Decision Before NBA Debut vs Spurs
ESPN analyst Charles Barkley blasted the decision during halftime of Wednesday night’s game.
“The Dallas Mavericks, trying to outthink everybody, think they’re the smartest dude in the world and realize it’s just basketball. They need a point guard,” Barkley said. “… I don’t know what they’re doing. They didn’t even put Cooper Flagg in a position to be successful.”
Kidd reaffirmed his decision on Thursday, doubling down on his confidence in Flagg at the point guard position.
“I think he did a really great job trying to get others involved,” Kidd said. “Being able to take advantage of that third quarter, he started to be aggressive for his shot. The more he’s in these situations, the better he’s going to get.”
“I think he did a really good job for us on both ends,” Kidd continued.
More Basketball: Lakers Announce Decision on Former UNC Star RJ Davis
Flagg served as the primary ball handler for a Mavericks starting lineup featuring Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II. The team is expected to roll out the same lineup for Thursday night’s matchup against the Washington Wizards.
