Los Angeles Lakers, Bronny James Lose in Cooper Flagg's NBA Summer League Debut

The Los Angeles Lakers and Bronny James tipped-off Las Vegas NBA Summer League on Thursday night against the Dallas Mavericks. The former USC Trojans guard, James, matched up vs. the Mavericks No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Cooper Flagg.

In a back and forth game, the Mavericks escaped with a close 87-85 win. Bronny James had eight points, two rebounds, and two assists on 2/8 shooting from the field. Cooper Flagg had 10 points, six rebounds, and four assists on 5/21 shooting.

LIVE UPDATES: Los Angeles Lakers' Bronny James vs. Cooper Flagg in NBA Summer League — Apr 19, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) warms up prior to the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Bronny James with the smooth step-back to open the scoring in Vegas 🔥#NBA2KSummerLeague on ESPN pic.twitter.com/4yFeFp6jmt
— NBA (@NBA) July 11, 2025

Bronny vs. Coop is cinema 🍿 pic.twitter.com/ObwL0VVIDV
— ESPN (@espn) July 11, 2025

The Lakers were led by Cole Swider's 22 points. Dalton Knecht added 15 points of his own in the loss. Dallas's leading scorer was guard Ryan Nembhard, who dropped 21 points.

Below Are Live Score Updates

Fourth Quarter

End of Game, Mavs 87, Lakers 85: Bronny misses a contested three-pointer for the lead in the final seconds. Mavs hold on for the win.

59.1, Mavs 87, Lakers 85: Swider gets fouled on a three-pointer, then hits 1/3 free throws to give the Lakers a three-point lead. Mavs answer with a Ryan Nembhard long two and a Nembhard three to take the lead with a minute to go. Lakers call timeout.

3:05, Lakers 84, Mavs 82: Bronny subs out after the timeout. Cole Swider carrying the Lakers offense with his deep shot making. Lakers defense is bottling up Cooper Flagg.

5:23, Mavs 79, Lakers 73: Bronny and Flagg back in to start the fourth quarter. Swider hits a three to stop a Mavs run, but the Mavs are heating up from the outside.

Third Quarter

End of Third, Mavs 68, Lakers 62: Mavericks take the lead after Miles Kelly goes on a quick five-point scoring burst. Lakers offense has not scored since Knecht subbed out.

2:16, Lakers 62, Mavs 57: Bronny and Flagg on the bench out of the timeout. Knecht is keeping the Lakers offense afloat in the this frame. Bronny checks back in at the three minute mark for Knecht.

4:42, Lakers 60, Mavs 52: Bronny misses alley-oop out of the break. Knecht with a few nice buckets for the Lakers to extend their lead. Bronny subs out around seven minute mark.

Second Quarter

End of Second, Lakers 47 Mavs 43 : Bronny fouled on a drive. Knocks splits the free throws. Lakers take the lead to behind and offensive flurry to end the half from Bazley, Knecht, and Steward.

5:39, Mavs 31, Lakers 26: Flagg almost blows the roof off the building with a posterizing dunk but just came up short. Flagg also hits a mid range jumper over Bronny before checking out. Bronny misses a wing three-pointer and then turns it over two possessions later before subbing.

First Quarter

End of First, Mavs 19, Lakers 17: Bronny and Flagg end quarter on the bench.

2:49, Mavs 13, Lakers 10: Flagg gets his first bucket with a thunderous slam dunk on the fastbreak.. A possession later, hit a fallaway mid range on baseline.

5:45, Lakers 10, Mavs 7: Bronny comes out on fire, knocking down a mid-range jumper and a three-pointer. Flagg starts out 0/2 from the field.

Jul 10, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) looks to pass the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first quarter of their game at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images | Candice Ward-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers made their first appearance in this year’s Las Vegas Summer League on Thursday night. The Lakers came into this game with three games under their belt from the California Classic in San Francisco over the weekend.

The Lakers lost to the Golden State Warriors on Saturday and then beat the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs on Sunday and Tuesday.

Bronny James played the final two games of the California Classic against Miami and San Antonio. It was a mixed bag for James.

Against the Heat, Bronny had 10 points, two rebounds, and a steal in 11 minutes of action during the Lakers 103-83 win. However, it was a struggle in the following game against the Spurs. Bronny had two points on 1/5 shooting and three turnovers in the Lakers 89-88 win.

This is the second Las Vegas Summer League for Bronny James, who was selected in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft by the Lakers last season. Bronny played sparingly for the Lakers last season, averaging six minutes played in 27 games. He averaged 2.3 points per game. As the season progressed, he got more action in the G-League for the South Bay Lakers and averaged 21.9 points per game.

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Cooper Flagg Makes Highly Anticipated Debut

When Cooper Flagg took the court on Thursday, it was his first action since being selected No. 1 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks. Flagg played his lone season in college for the Duke Blue Devils last season. He was a highly touted five-star recruit out of high school.

The 18-year-old Flagg lived up to the hype and then some at Duke. As a freshman, Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game. He helped lead the Blue Devils to the Final Four, where they fell to the Houston Cougars. Flagg was named the 2025 National college player of the year and a consensus first-team All-American.

The Dallas Mavericks hit the jackpot in the NBA Draft lottery. They only had a 1.8 percent chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick and won it, giving them the chance to draft Cooper Flagg. This was a much needed boost for the Dallas fanbase, who just months earlier were devastated that they traded away superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.