Cooper Flagg stands alone in NBA history after Friday.
The Dallas Mavericks rookie became the youngest player in NBA history to record a 50-point game at 19 years and 103 days old, posting 51 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in a 138-127 loss to the Orlando Magic.
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He scored some of those points with style.
Flagg is also the ninth rookie in NBA history to post a 50-point game, joining Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, Earl Monroe, Brandon Jennings, Elgin Baylor, Elvin Hayes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Allen Iverson. None of those players were teenagers when they reached the half-century mark.
Flagg’s previous career high was 49 points, which was also the previous high in NBA history for a teenager. He has time to break the record again, as he doesn’t turn 20 until Dec. 21.
The Mavericks were definitely pushing for him to get there. After head coach Jason Kidd was ejected for arguing with the officials over a non-call involving Flagg, assistant coach Frank Vogel took over and pulled Flagg with 3:35 left in the game.
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At that point, Flagg was at 45 points, but Dallas was down 17 points. The game was over, but Vogel opted to put Flagg back in the game 22 seconds later and let him go for history. It might be easy to disregard such an effort because of those circumstances, but let’s just consider more than a few teenagers have played in the NBA and they were all in more than a few uncompetitive games at some point.
None of them did what Flagg did.
Could Cooper Flagg’s 50-point game swing the Rookie of the Year race?
With a 24-53 record, the Mavericks’ season has been effectively over for a while, but Flagg is still a Rookie of the Year candidate. As of Friday evening, BetMGM has him at +165 odds to win the award, the second-best odds behind former college teammate Kon Knueppel.
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The two former Duke stars present an interesting contrast. Knueppel has been the most dependable rookie in the league all season, supplying a historic level of 3-point shooting to a Charlotte Hornets team on the verge of its first playoff berth since 2015-16. That’s a compelling case.
Flagg, meanwhile, has been more statistically productive across the board for a Mavericks team that has languished all season. He has dealt with injuries and played 11 fewer games, but he’s also exploded in ways Knueppel hasn’t. And there are still very few people who would take Knueppel long-term over Flagg, despite how their rookie years have worked out.
It’s a conversation that might not be as over as some think. And a 50-point game is a heck of a way to restart the discussion.