As Dallas Mavericks star rookie Cooper Flagg achieves feats left and right, he would accomplish a new one in the 114-110 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Mavericks rookie would even make history with the performance against the Clippers, as Klay Thompson would speak on why he thinks of Kobe Bryant with Flagg.
The 18-year-old would finish the game with a season-high 35 points on 13 of 22 shooting from the field to go along with eight rebounds and two assists. He became the second-youngest player in NBA history, with LeBron James being the youngest, to score 30 points in an NBA game, but the reason why Thompson thinks of Bryant is more so the connection with Byron Scott predicting that he'll be great.
Thompson sees himself in Scott's shoes with Flagg.
“I’m not saying he’s going to be Kobe, but I remember this clip of Byron Scott looking in the camera talking about how great Kobe’s going to be when he was 18 years old,” Thompson said, according to The Dallas Morning News. “I feel like B-Scott sometimes. The old, wise veteran that has the future of the franchise to my side. It’s pretty cool to be a part of, and we’re all going to be witnesses to what Cooper Flagg is going to do for a long time.”
Mavericks' Jason Kidd praises Cooper Flagg for career-best outing
While Flagg continues to make history with the Mavericks, he is seen as the face of the franchise, especially with the team's future looking more and more likely that a rebuild could be on the way, though that's not certain. Dallas head coach Jason Kidd spoke highly of Flagg in all aspects, especially how he went to the free-throw line for 11 attempts.
“Yeah, I thought Cooper set the tone earlier,” Kidd said, via Dallas Hoops Journal. “He was aggressive, getting to the rim. And he did that for the 37 minutes he was on the floor, 38 minutes. He was aggressive. So again, not just the scoring, but being able to find guys, create opportunities for others, and defensively he made some big plays.”
The Mavericks are now 6-15, looking to stack up more wins starting with Monday's matchup against the Denver Nuggets.
