Cooper Flagg’s duel with Bronny James in Mavs debut rocks Las Vegas Summer League

LAS VEGAS Nev Thousands rained boos upon the functionaries with five seconds remaining on the Thomas Mack Center scoreboard in Oklahoma City s - triumph over the Brooklyn Nets The Summer League crowd which had packed out the lower bowl and was in the process of filling up the nosebleed seats by late Thursday afternoon was not there to watch Ben Saraf send Brooks Barnhizer to the free throw line No they were waiting with bated breath for the start of an equally meaningless but infinitely more hyped exhibition Agents celebrities former college coaches and NBA alumni young and old were all on hand to witness the event Cooper Flagg the top pick in the NBA Draft and the the majority celebrated American-born prospect since Zion Williamson burst onto the scene six years prior made his debut for the Dallas Mavericks The company s new -year-old savior faced the Lakers the franchise that had traded for former Dallas superstar Luka Doncic in February Representing Los Angeles Summer League unit was Bronny James the largest part discussed second-round pick in NBA history and the son of current Lakers megastar LeBron James The tournament itself was plenty exciting with Dallas prevailing - The numbers were somewhat underwhelming Flagg shooting of for points and James going for and missing the possible game-winning -pointer in the dying seconds I was excited and a little nervous Flagg noted later adding It was high capacity and a lot of fans Everybody manifested up and there was an intense strength But that s what you look forward to But in a matchup where statistics were worth the same amount as which club won nothing the moments presented why Flagg is the heir apparent to the American throne that Steph Curry James and Kevin Durant have sat upon for over a decade Each Flagg shot each dribble and pass created the same semi-second of anticipation that Curry has long generated in the Bay Area when he has the ball That shot though isn t quite Curry-esque yet After whiffing on the first shot of the tournament a -foot fallaway Flagg was called for a foul and then bricked a -pointer Hardly an auspicious start Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg attempts a three-point basket against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half of an NBA summer league basketball tournament Thursday July in Las Vegas AP Photo David Becker James countered by drilling a stepback jumper over Flagg and then burying a triple while Dallas prized rookie contested to a chorus of cheers from a pro-Lakers crowd There was no shortage of qualified professionals there to memorialize the moment Media from distant lands such as China Korea and Lithuania squeezed into press row seated next to writers from Boston Oregonian broadcasters and Chicago radio hosts They all saw what happened four minutes later Flagg split two defenders in the open court and hammered home a tomahawk right-handed dunk for his first points There were plenty of more missed shots from Flagg to be exact but they were easily forgotten The highlights were just that loud Heck even the shots that did not count including an attempted poster dunk over Christian Koloko brought attendees to their feet Coaches had a lot of confidence in me and needed me to experiment and try new things Flagg explained The thousands of fans even got the mano-a-mano showcase they craved in the second quarter when Flagg got three consecutive isolation possessions against James in the mid-post The second ended when James stripped Flagg but was called for an iffy foul sending the crowd into a frenzy Frenzy became bedlam on the next play Flagg talked trash to James ran to his spot on the left wing pivoted off the catch and nailed the shot before turning to exult with his future Mavericks varsity teammates who cheered him on decked out in casual wear from their courtside seats Related Articles Warriors Summer League preview Draft picks NorCal native among those looking to impress Steph Curry in wait-and-see mode on Tahoe golf reign and Warriors tenure How to watch Steph Curry George Kittle and other celebrities at the American Century Championship golf tournament in Tahoe Warriors NBA Cup group includes two of the West s biggest offseason climbers Steph Curry s encore at Tahoe celebrity golf tourney motivates others to ace Edgewood When James inbounds play with seconds remaining fell harmlessly to the ground the seats fast emptied as the Dylan Harper-less Spurs warmed up to play the VJ Edgecomb-less Sixers Even if the No and No selections respectively had played that still may not have mattered Fans were there for Flagg who gave them a memorable performance And as he melted into the shadows of the entry-level tunnel the paying customers expeditiously disappeared into the suffocatingly hot Las Vegas night as they still processed what they had just witnessed Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg looks back as he runs up court against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half of an NBA summer league basketball tournament Thursday July in Las Vegas AP Photo David Becker