"Lights Were Brighter Than Expected" - Fans Don't Hold Back on Cooper Flagg After NBA Debut Ends With Humbling Loss

Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs spoiled Cooper Flagg's NBA debut with the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. Flagg dropped a double-double, but it was not impactful, as the Mavs got blown out, 125-92, at home. Fans online didn't hold back on their take on the No. 1 pick of the 2025 NBA draft.

After experimenting with his lineup in the preseason, coach Jason Kidd used Flagg as his starting point guard. However, it didn't work, as the Duke product dished zero assists in his debut. He finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds on 4-for-13 shooting.

Flagg also committed three turnovers in 31 minutes, which isn't bad, but VJ Edgecombe's debut blew fans out of the water earlier in the day. Edgecombe had 34 points in the Philadelphia 76ers' 117-116 win over the Boston Celtics. But it was Wembanyama who stole the show in Dallas, putting up 40 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.

Despite being the first game of a long 82-game regular season, NBA fans were ruthless about Cooper Flagg's performance. Some are not happy about his performance, while others are not too worried at all.

Here are some of the comments.

Joser ⚾️🏀⚽️

@joserod05

Lights were brighter than expected for him

Sid

@kattasid

Bro got welcomed to the league alright.

DonnyGBuckets

@donnygbuckets

Luka had 10 in his debut and dirk had 2 Flagg finished with 10 and 10 lol let him develop

Michael Schettig

@m_schettig

Flagg is gonna be fine but it's hard for a 1st overall pick to get overshadowed like that in his first game lol

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@RangerDanger_29

He’s gonna be great. He just shouldn’t be playing point guard

alebongo

@BrisFrog

Looked good other than handling that ball

It will be interesting to see if coach Jason Kidd makes some changes to his starting lineup and puts Cooper Flagg into his natural position at small forward. The Dallas Mavericks have D'Angelo Russell coming off the bench, who is capable of scoring and playmaking.

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Charles Barkley calls out Mavericks for Cooper Flagg experiment

"Inside the NBA" is back for a new season at a new home on ESPN. Charles Barkley was already in midseason form, calling out the Dallas Mavericks for playing Cooper Flagg at point guard.

"The Dallas Mavericks trying to outthink everybody, think they the smartest dude in the world and realized it’s just basketball," Barkley said, according to the Fort Worth-Star Telegram. "They need a point guard, first of all. Cooper Flagg, he only got two attempts. Why's he only got two attempts? They got him trying to initiate the offense. Man, start D'Angelo Russell till Kyrie (Irving) comes back."

Barkley was not happy with how the Mavericks are using Flagg and not putting him in a position to succeed. Coach Jason Kidd wants his prized rookie to be in uncomfortable situations to improve his game, but fans have also called him out for trying to do too much.