Perhaps Cooper Flagg just had some first-game jitters.
In his second Summer League outing, the 18-year-old Flagg put up a game-high 31 points while shooting 10-for-21 against the Spurs on Saturday.
The Mavericks ultimately lost the game 76-69, with incoming rookie Dylan Harper leading the way with 16 points, six rebounds and two steals for San Antonio.
“I definitely felt a little more comfortable,” Flagg told reporters following the game. “Taking a lot of the same shots I took last game, just trusting. I got to the line a little bit better today. Still missed a bunch of free throws. I know my mom probably wasn’t very happy with that.”
Flagg’s performance comes just two days after his disappointing Summer League debut against the Lakers, when the No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 draft scored just 10 points on an abysmal 5-for-21 shooting.
The reigning ACC Player of the Year failed to score in the second half of Thursday’s game.
Dallas was able to squeak out an 87-85 win after Lakers guard Bronny James — son of LeBron — missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Following the game, Flagg was brutally honest with reporters regarding his performance Thursday.
“I couldn’t really get into a rhythm, it’s a different environment, obviously very different from college, it’s probably very different from what the real NBA is gonna be like,” Flagg told reporters “The coaches had a lot of confidence in me. They’ve been telling me they want me to experiment, try some new things, and I was trying to be aggressive, and that’s new for me too.
“I would say that might be one of the worst games in my life, but we got the win, that’s what really matters to me.”
Going into this year’s Summer League, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said that he wanted to challenge Flagg by having him play out of his comfort zone.
Kidd, who is entering his fifth season at the helm for Dallas, told reporters in June that he plans to have Flagg test out new positions.
“I don’t look at the position,” Kidd said. “I want to put him at point guard. I want to make him uncomfortable and see how he reacts, being able to run the show.
“We want to push. … And I think he’s going to respond in a positive way. It’s all right to fail. It’s all right to turn the ball over. We’ve talked about that.”
