The Dallas Mavericks’ plunge into Hades continues.
Dallas lost again on Wednesday, falling 101-99 to the lowly New Orleans Pelicans. They trailed by as many as 13 points during the game, and a late comeback was not enough to prevent the Mavericks from falling to a woeful 2-6 on the year.
After the game, Dallas rookie star Cooper Flagg spoke with reporters. During his media session, Flagg dropped a depressing quote.
“This is the most I’ve lost since, I think, ever,” Flagg said, per Mavs writer Tim Cato.
The 18-year-old Flagg actually finished with a very strong line of 20 points, nine rebounds, two assists, three steals, and two blocks. But after going 35-4 last season at Duke University, Flagg has already experienced more losses than that after two weeks of play with the Mavericks.
Because the worst NBA teams tend to get the best picks in the draft, it is common for top-tier prospects to experience a whole lot of losing when they first enter the league. But Flagg probably wasn’t expecting it to be this bad with the Mavericks, who just made the NBA Finals in 2024 and are a playoff-caliber team that lucked into the No. 1 overall pick this year with just a 1.8 percent chance of doing so.
Dallas hasn’t really put the 18-year-old Flagg in a position to succeed either, playing him as their out-of-position starting point guard and forcing Flagg to respond to his critics about his early struggles. Though the Mavs should right the ship at some point, this is clearly uncharted territory for the ex-National College Player of the Year Flagg.
