There's a kid from a town of 3,000 people in Maine who just did something only Michael Jordan and Ron Harper have done in the past 50 years.
And most of you still don't understand what Dallas accidentally stumbled into.
Cooper Flagg walked off the court Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets with a sprained left ankle, six points, and a milestone that will outlive every hot take about the Luka Doncic disaster. Through 40 career games, the 19-year-old has racked up 752 points, 167 assists, 51 steals, and 32 blocks.
Only two players since the 1976 ABA-NBA merger have hit those numbers that fast. One is the five-time NBA champion Harper. The other? The guy with six rings and a documentary that made everyone forget about his baseball career.
The accidental redemption story
Let's be honest about how we got here. On February 1, 2025, the Mavericks pulled off what many still consider the worst trade in NBA history: shipping Luka Doncic—a five-time All-NBA First Team selection coming off leading Dallas to the Finals—to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick.
General manager Nico Harrison genuinely believed defense wins championships. "We think defense wins championships and we're bringing in one of the best two-way players in the league," he said at the time. "We feel like we're built to win now as well as in the future."
He was fired nine months later. The universe apparently had other plans.
Because Dallas, despite a 1.8% chance in the lottery, landed the first overall pick. And they used it on a kid who grew up watching 1986 Celtics DVDs on two-hour drives to AAU practice in rural Maine.
The kid from Newport
Cooper Flagg isn't your typical NBA prodigy origin story. No big-city AAU circuit, no private school powerhouse from age 12. He grew up in Newport, Maine—population 3,054—about 25 miles west of Bangor, in Stephen King country.
His mom, Kelly, scored 1,200 points at Nokomis Regional High School before becoming a captain at the University of Maine. His dad, Ralph, stands 6-9 and played at Eastern Maine Community College. Cooper has a twin brother, Ace, who's headed to play for the Black Bears. He had another twin, Ryder, who was born prematurely in 2004 and died after two days.
Before Flagg left for Montverde Academy in Florida, he led Nokomis to its first state championship as a freshman. The town threw him a parade—fire trucks, police cars, the whole deal.
"Something that I'm taking a lot of pride in is just proving to everybody from Maine and everybody from the rest of the country and the world that kids from Maine can make it," Flagg said before leaving for Duke. "They can be good enough if they really put their mind to it."
He's the first person born and raised in Maine to play in the NBA. Ever.
The Jordan shadow
Let's put Wednesday's milestone in perspective. Flagg hit those benchmarks—750 points, 150 assists, 50 steals, 30 blocks—in 40 games. Jordan did it in 40 games too. Harper needed slightly longer.
That's the company. That's the air Flagg is breathing right now.
Earlier this season, he dropped 42 points in an overtime loss to Utah, breaking LeBron James' record for highest-scoring game by an 18-year-old in NBA history. He reached 40 points faster than LeBron, Kobe, Durant, or Curry—only Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan, and Oscar Robertson got there quicker.
ESPN's Kendrick Perkins called him the "White LeBron," citing his ability to impact every facet of the game. The comparison carries enormous weight. Flagg's production suggests it might not be hyperbole.
Jason Kidd knows what he has
Watch how the Mavericks' head coach talks about this kid. It's different.
"We all know he is special, so just understanding that we'll never take anybody for granted," Kidd said after Monday's win over Brooklyn. "But his skill set, his maturity at the age of 19, he is leading this team. He is one of our leaders on the floor and off the floor."
Kidd made a controversial decision early in the season, starting Flagg at point guard for the first seven games. The growing pains were visible—three or more turnovers in three of those games. But Kidd was playing the long game.
"I know it wasn't a popular thing, but having him at point guard is something we needed to do sooner than later," Kidd explained in December. "Your best player is going to have the ball in the last three minutes. I wanted to see him handle the ball sooner."
When Flagg hit the inevitable rookie wall in early January, Kidd didn't panic. He framed it as a test of character.
"He's gotta touch it. He's gotta rub it and hold it. He's gotta embrace it," Kidd said. "For the great ones, they touch it, they don't run from it. They find a way to go over it or through it or around it, because it's not gonna move."
There's also this, which tells you everything about why Dallas might actually survive the Luka fallout:
"When you ask anyone on the team, or anyone that's on that plane, he always talks to everybody, gives a handshake, looks at you in the eye to see how you're doing," Kidd said. "That's what leaders do, no matter how good or how bad things might seem record-wise, he comes with a positive attitude. For a 19-year-old to understand that, that is special."
The injury caveat
Now for the uncomfortable part.
Flagg left Wednesday's game at halftime after twisting his left ankle defending Peyton Watson with 6:01 remaining in the second quarter. He'd already rolled the same ankle Monday against Brooklyn. The Mavericks are being cautious, but this is already a team held together by duct tape—Anthony Davis is dealing with his fourth major injury since arriving, Kyrie Irving remains out after ACL surgery, Dereck Lively II is gone for the season.
"He stepped on someone's foot," Kidd said postgame. "Last game, he twisted his ankle, too. We decided to hold him [out] for the second half."
Flagg has missed only one game this season—an illness in November. His status for Thursday's game against Utah is uncertain. For a team sitting at 15-26 with dwindling playoff hopes, losing their franchise cornerstone for any extended period would be devastating.
The bigger picture
The Mavericks are a mess right now. That's inarguable. They traded away a generational talent, their supporting cast can't stay healthy, and they're fighting just to stay relevant in the Western Conference.
But they also have the third player in almost 50 years to put up Michael Jordan-level all-around numbers through 40 games. They have a 19-year-old from rural Maine who leads the team in scoring, leadership, and apparently vibes on team flights. They have a kid who played against LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant at 17 years old and wasn't intimidated.
Durant watched that Team USA scrimmage and told ESPN: "He looks like a hell of a player. He's 17 years old coming in here playing like a veteran almost. No emotion. Just going out there and doing his job. That's a good sign."
Flagg is averaging 18.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.2 assists this season. He's won Western Conference Rookie of the Month in both November and December. The Rookie of the Year race isn't close.
And while Dallas fans will never fully forgive what happened with Luka, they might eventually realize the lottery gods gave them something unexpected: a once-in-a-generation talent who actually wants to be there, who represents his small-town roots with pride, and who just carved his name next to Michael Jordan in the record books.
That's not nothing. That's not nothing at all.