DALLAS — On his way out of American Airlines Center on Sunday, LeBron James exchanged a hug with Cooper Flagg.
After tallying 45 points, eight rebounds and nine assists, Flagg had just outdueled James in the Dallas Mavericks’ 134-128 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Before finding the exit, James showed respect to a teenage rookie who, in many ways, is going through a similar experience to the one the NBA’s all-time leading scorer lived 22 years ago.
Like Flagg, James was a No. 1 NBA draft pick who entered the league at 18 years old.
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Like Flagg, James was a natural forward who had to endure growing pains when his coach played him heavy minutes at point guard early on.
“(Jason) Kidd early on got a little scrutinized because they started him at point guard at times, and I thought that was unfair,” said James, who had 30 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds on Sunday. “I think it’s great to put the ball in somebody’s hands so they can just go through the rough patches. And when you go through the rough patches, it allows you to grow at a rate faster than other players.
“That’s what (Cleveland Cavaliers coach) Paul Silas, rest his soul, did for me. My rookie year, I basically started at point guard early on. He allowed me to make mistakes and make mistakes and make mistakes and play against tough defenses and stuff like that. So, I see similarities in that.”
Yes, there have been growing pains, but the beginning of Flagg’s career has contained plenty of special moments. Flagg flirted with the first triple-double of his career Sunday, two days after he exploded for 51 points against the Orlando Magic.
Flagg’s 96 points over Easter weekend certainly strengthened his case against Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel in the NBA’s Rookie of the Year race.
“I think it’s definitely some sort of statement,” Flagg said. “I’m confident in myself. I know what I’m capable of. I’ll let the rest of the stuff figure it out.”
With 3:26 remaining in the fourth quarter Sunday, Flagg made a short turnaround jumper to give the Mavericks a 10-point lead. After that, Flagg went 4-for-4 on free throws, which allowed Dallas to keep Los Angeles at arm’s length and put an end to its 14-game home losing streak.
“I just don’t understand why anyone else can be Rookie of the Year,” Mavericks forward P.J. Washington told The Athletic. “He’s done everything. Especially at his age. The things he’s doing, it’s unbelievable.”
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Knueppel — Flagg’s college teammate and roommate at Duke — leads the NBA in 3-point makes and is averaging 18.8 points per game on a 64.4 true-shooting percentage. Flagg is averaging more points (20.8) on worse efficiency (55.0 true-shooting percentage) but also has more rebounds, assists, steals and blocks than Knueppel. In Washington’s mind, part of the efficiency gap can be explained by how different the two rookies’ roles are. Knueppel benefits from playing alongside Charlotte’s primary on-ball creator, LaMelo Ball. Flagg is the primary creator in Dallas.
“It’s two different ballparks,” Washington said. “He’s 19, doing what he’s doing. Being the main guy is a lot harder than being a rotational player hitting corner shots or just hitting 3s. He’s initiating most of our offense. To be 19 doing that is unheard of.”
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One aspect of the Rookie of the Year race is inarguable: Flagg, by far, has experienced the highest peaks of any first-year player. He’s scored 40 points four times this season. No other rookie has eclipsed the 40-point mark once.
“Each time he looks across the floor, he’s got one of the best defenders,” Kidd said. “For him to be able to deliver, it’s not easy. I know he makes it look easy; that’s how special he is. Understanding it’s only going to make him better as we get better as a team (and) as we get healthy.
“Looking forward to next season, with Kyrie (Irving), D(ereck) Lively (II) coming back, a lottery pick … we have opportunities to get better. And also, having flexibility with cash to maybe get a free agent. As the roster gets healthy and we get better, he’s only going to get better with it.”
The Mavericks are 25-53 with four games remaining. Flagg said Sunday that so much losing will be one of the things he remembers most from his rookie season.
At least he can take solace in the fact that even James — one of the NBA’s all-time great players — had to endure losing early on. The Cavaliers had a 35-47 record in James’ rookie season.
“I mean, he’s obviously special,” James said about Flagg. “I’ve seen that all the way back to, like, the AAU days when he was coming up in the ranks and playing with his team out of Maine and he was doing the things that he was doing on the circuit. So, knew he was special from then, and he’s just taken that, from what he was doing back home to the AAU circuit to Duke to now here, and he’s getting better and better and better. Looks like he loves the game. He’s putting in the work, and he’s gotten better.”