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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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Cooper Flagg's already off to a hot start in his second NBA season.
After missing the Dallas Mavericks' previous game with a left shoulder sprain, the 19-year-old returned Monday night and led the team to a 113-109 road win over the Miami Heat. Flagg finished with 21 points on 12 of 23 shooting along with 11 assists, six rebounds, five steals, and three blocks.
Flagg scored 12 points in the fourth quarter alone, and came up big when it mattered the most, blocking Andrew Wiggins' 3-point attempt before scoring a late layup to secure the victory. The win moved Dallas to 2-2 on the season, while Miami has dropped to 0-4.
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ESPN analyst and NBA insider Brian Windhorst praised Flagg's defensive versatility after the win, arguing that the young Mavs star is already ahead of LeBron James in certain areas at the same age.
“He's not the offensive talent that LeBron was as a 19-year-old. LeBron's ability to impose his physical talents on the offensive end from age 18 was more impressive, and therefore he put up huge numbers and was just physically dominant. [But] Cooper Flagg’s a better defender than LeBron at 19," Windhorst said. "Cooper Flagg’s got a better fundamental jump shot at 19. Cooper Flagg is more positionally versatile defensively at age 19. There's a lot of check marks on that slider of Cooper Flagg-LeBron James comps at that age."
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James set an incredibly high standard from the moment he entered the league. He averaged 20.9 points, 5.9 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game as a rookie with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003-04, winning Rookie of the Year and finishing ninth in MVP voting. He improved to 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 2.2 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game in his second season, earning his first All-Star selection and an All-NBA second team nod.
Flagg's numbers are nearly identical, with the slight edge in the defensive department. He averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game during his rookie season, winning Rookie of the Year. This season, he's already upped those averages to 25.0 points, 6.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.7 blocks across three games.
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Both players arrived in the NBA as teenagers with an unique ability to score, create for others, and influence the game in different ways. Flagg's defensive versatility could help him separate from other young stars, but reaching James' level of career success would require sustaining that elite play for years. Flagg still has a long way to go, but the early signs give Dallas plenty of reason to dream.
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