There is a joke in NBA circles that LeBron James is typically both the youngest player to do X statistical feat, while also usually being the oldest player to accomplish Y achievement. Cooper Flagg has quietly come for the former, taking down a record that stood for 20-plus years.
Approaching his 19th birthday on Dec. 21st, Flagg made the most of his remaining days as an 18-year-old. The Dallas Mavericks forward scored 42 points in a failing effort to keep his team afloat during a tight 140-133 overtime loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday.
The Mavericks did not get the win, but Flagg did get a piece of history as a consolation prize. The 2025 first overall pick passed LeBron for the single-game NBA scoring record by an 18-year-old. James set the record in his rookie year, with 37 points against the Boston Celtics on Dec. 13, 2003.
LeBron has more than enough spots in the history books penciled in with his name that the Los Angeles Lakers forward won't miss surrendering one of them. However, the achievement does serve as a testament to just how high the ceiling of Flagg should be in the NBA.
Mavericks' consolation prize for Luka Doncic trade holds plenty of promise
Flagg is, of course, the Mavericks' shining beacon of hope for serving up Luka Doncic on a silver platter to the Lakers. Fluking their way into the top pick of the 2025 NBA Draft made the situation easier to stomach in Dallas after giving away their generational superstar to Los Angeles.
Performances like this one remind everybody why Flagg was such a highly-touted draft prospect. This was arguably the strongest individual game thus far, despite the loss, in his rookie campaign. The Mavericks forward earned a season-high game score of 30.2.
For whatever it is worth to LeBron, his feat was a more difficult one back in 2003. Not to sound like an oldhead, but scoring the basketball was certainly a tougher task in the dead ball era of the NBA than it is now in the fast-paced, floor-spaced version of the sport we see today.
That is not a knock on the current product, far from it. However, scoring 37 in a season when the league average pace is 90.1 is a bigger feat than scoring 42 in a campaign with that same figure being at 100.0.
All that aside, ever since Flagg was allowed to move back to his natural forward spot, his rookie season has bounced back from its slow start. The more of these games the Duke product has to offer, the more hopeful things will feel over in Dallas.