Amid the Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg’s first two weeks of the regular season, teammates Klay Thompson and Anthony Davis shared their initial impressions of the NBA’s first overall pick.
While it is still early in the season, questions loom about whether the Mavericks will make the playoffs this year. Injuries, including star Kyrie Irving, who has yet to debut this season, and the steep competition within the Western Conference, present significant challenges.
When it comes to Flagg’s presence around his veteran teammates, both Davis and Thompson offered positive remarks, as noted on the NBA’s X (formerly Twitter).
“I’ve learned he loves to game. Big-time gamer,” Klay Thompson said. “Big-time E-Sports participant.”
For Anthony Davis, Flagg’s work ethic is what stands out the most. “He’s a worker,” Davis said. “He wants to be great. He takes the game very seriously.”
In a recent performance against the Indiana Pacers, Flagg finished with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, 10 rebounds, four assists, and one block, helping the Mavericks secure a 115-107 victory.
Through five games into his rookie campaign, Flagg is averaging 13.4 points on 41.0% shooting, along with 6.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists for Dallas.
Despite a 2-3 start, Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks are still searching for their rhythm in the 2025-26 season. However, ESPN analyst Tim Bontemps has already weighed in with a less optimistic outlook, projecting that the Mavericks will miss the playoffs this year.
“The theory entering the season was that Dallas’ defense would carry it while it waited for a potential Kyrie Irving return. But through this opening week, the defense has looked far from formidable, and the lack of perimeter shooting and shot creation has been the problem it was expected to be,” Bontemps explained.
“That’s a bad combination in a loaded Western Conference. It’s a conference led by the undefeated defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder (7-0) and the San Antonio Spurs (6-0), the only other undefeated team in the West, who handed Dallas its first loss of the regular season in its season opener.”
### Anthony Davis Unlikely to Play vs. Pistons
Mavericks All-Star Anthony Davis is unlikely to face the Detroit Pistons in Saturday’s matchup in Mexico City. Davis exited Wednesday’s 107-105 win against the Pacers with lower leg soreness and is expected to miss his first full game of the 2025-26 campaign, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
“Anthony Davis is expected to be ruled out of Dallas’ game Saturday in Mexico City against Detroit after exiting Wednesday night with left lower leg soreness. An official status update remains TBA after Davis was listed earlier in the week with bilateral Achilles tendinopathy,” Stein wrote on X.
If the Mavericks manage to beat the Pistons without Davis, it will mark their first consecutive wins of the regular season.
https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-what-anthony-davis-klay-thompson-already-learned-cooper-flagg