Mavericks Fans Undeterred as Cooper Flagg's Underwhelming Season Debut Parallels Luka Doncic's First Outing

After all the hype surrounding the 2025 NBA draft, Dallas Mavericks top pick Cooper Flagg turned in an underwhelming performance in his debut. Though Flagg technically logged a double-double, the impact of his 10 points and 10 rebounds was hardly felt as the Mavs lost 125-92 to the San Antonio Spurs.

While some critics have become emboldened by Flagg's relatively tame numbers, a number of Mavericks fans have remained cautiously optimistic, as they watched their former franchise player Luka Doncic go through a rough debut once upon a time. As pointed out by X user MavsMuse, Doncic had just 10 points and eight rebounds in his first-ever regular season game seven years ago.

"Coop will be just fine," MavsMuse tweeted.

MavsMuse

@MavsMuse

In their NBA debuts: Flagg 10 pts, 10 reb, 31% FG, -29. Luka 10 pts, 8 reb, 30% FG, -18. Coop will be just fine.

J Pry the Sports Guy🏀

@JPryTheGuy

Mavs really reset their timeline. Cooper will be a monster in due time but it feels like 2018 all over again, only difference is we have higher expectations for this team

niki

@hoaveth

Luka blossomed after his first game. We’ll see how Coop goes in the next couple of games 🤭

Other netizens, however, weren't as positive in their outlook on Flagg. In particular, they pointed out that the comparison between the circumstances of the two stars wasn't quite valid.

"Luka started with nobodies. Everyone has been going off all summer about how the Mavs are a championship team," one netizen commented. "Also you left off the assists, intentionally I presume. Luka is a generational playmaker even as a rookie. Cooper didn’t have any assists."

CayceL

@CayceL

Luka started with nobodies. Everyone has been going off all summer about how the Mavs are a championship team. Also you left off the assists, intentionally I presume. Luka is a generational playmaker even as a rookie. Cooper didn’t have any assists.

Kugla007

@kugla007

One started with the worst team (they were all gone in one season), while other came in to team that was in finals..just sayin...give people some context

Andrej

@Kr_eden

I think Flagg has a tiny bit better team than Luka had, but maybe that’s just me 🤷‍♂️

On the one hand, rookies are generally given a pass for subpar numbers, as there is so much to learn when it comes to adjusting to the NBA style. On the other hand, the pressure is different for a top overall pick like Flagg, who has been deemed a generational talent by pundits.

The point guard experiment that Jason Kidd tried with Flagg might come to an end soon if the rookie continues to struggle with his numbers. When that happens, Flagg might be able to showcase his natural talents more comfortably.

"We didn't pass the ball": Mavericks HC comments on team's struggles to create easy scoring opportunities in loss vs Spurs

After the Mavericks lost their season opener, head coach Jason Kidd pointed out his team's struggles to share the ball and generate easy offense.

"We just didn't pass the ball," Kidd told reporters. "t’s an easy fix. Make a play for a teammate."

While Flagg drew much attention for having zero assists in his debut, the Mavericks as a whole had four less than dimes than the Spurs, who tallied 24 assists on Wednesday night. Kidd and his coaching staff will have to find ways to improve in this category as the Mavs play their next few games.