LAS VEGAS — Cooper Flagg’s long-awaited professional and New Balance debut started rough, but ended in a thriller.
On Thursday night, the No. 1 pick in June’s NBA Draft helped fill the lower bowl of Thomas & Mack Center for summer league’s first marquee matchup, which pitted him and the Mavericks against Bronny James and the Lakers.
While neither player dominated the game, the matchup lived up to the hype with an 87–85 Mavericks win after James missed a game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds. Getting into the game wasn’t cheap: the average ticket price was $201 and courtside seats went for $2,500, a record for summer league.
Flagg got a steal late in the first quarter and threw down a monstrous dunk for his first professional points, but finished with just 10 points on 5-for-21 shooting. He made up for it in other areas, snagging six rebounds, four assists, and a key block with 1:10 left in the game to help seal the win.
“That might be one of the worst games of my life,” Flagg told reporters after the game.”I just couldn’t really get into a rhythm.”
Despite his poor performance, Flagg still drew respect for his play. Lakers assistant coach Lindsey Harding called Flagg “the future of the league,” which is why she elected to double-team him on the game’s opening possession.
Flagg’s debut didn’t draw a celebrity row of the Knicks caliber, but included plenty of noteworthy faces beyond the usual NBA personnel. Raiders rookie Ashton Jeanty sat courtside, as did his new teammate and fellow Duke alum Kyrie Irving, who’s currently rehabbing a torn ACL. Former North Carolina coach Roy Williams sat in the first row. Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont was also in the building.
Eyes on New Balance
The game was also Flagg’s first wearing New Balance shoes 11 months after agreeing to a multi-year deal with the company in August 2024. The deal came while he was still at Duke, which is sponsored by Nike, preventing Flagg from representing the company for his long collegiate season. Flagg had played for Nike schools and travel teams his entire amateur career before signing with the Boston-based shoe company.
The 6-foot-9 forward wore the Hesi Low in powder blue to match the team’s color scheme.
James and Flagg matched up with each other periodically throughout the game with both players scoring over the other at times and James successfully getting a stop on Flagg after being posted up—much to the crowd’s delight. The No. 55 pick in the 2024 draft, James will always be his father’s son to an extent in basketball circles, but remains a crowd favorite as “We Want Bronny” chants regularly filled the arena on Thursday.
“Just trying to hold my ground,” James said of Flagg. “He’s got like half a foot on me… He’s going to be something special.”
Noticeably absent from the game was the elder LeBron James, who’s been quiet about his status on the team since opting into his $52.6 million player option on June 29, while voicing displeasure in the team’s current long-term planning through intermediaries.
James’s wife, Savannah, and daughter, Zhuri, were seen at the game to support Bronny, but the NBA legend wasn’t around. James had an interest in both ends of the matchup after he spent time with Flagg in Vegas a year ago when the then-17-year-old trained with Team USA ahead of the Paris Olympics as a member of the select team.
Bronny was asked about his father’s future with the organization before the team left for summer league and gave a nonanswer on the situation.
“There’s a lot of stuff going around that I don’t really pay attention to,” Bronny said.
