Cooper Flagg Gets Brutally Honest on Learning 'How to Lose' With Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks have had a horrific season. They're currently 24-53 before a matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night, and while the Lakers will be missing Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Mavs have no intention of winning games.

That's despite Cooper Flagg being a superhuman rookie. He may not win Rookie of the Year, but it's not for a lack of trying. He's coming off a 51-point outing in a loss to the Orlando Magic on Friday night, the most points ever scored by a teenager in NBA history.

But the losing has started to get to Flagg. Before that masterpiece of a game on Friday, he appeared on the "Young Man and the Three" podcast with Tommy Alter, along with Ryan Nembhard and Max Christie, where he got honest about how hard this year has been for him.

“It’s definitely tough, like there was times in the start of the year where it was taking a big toll on me, not personally, but mentally. I don’t want to talk for anybody else, but it’s definitely tough. Family’s freaking out like my mom, especially, she hadn’t been in or seen me lose that much before, so she’s worried about me, and then it’s just like you’re trying to move on each night, but it’s tough," Flagg started.

"You got to learn how to lose I think and learn how to take positives away and know that you might have another one tomorrow or you get one day and you got another one the next day so I think that was a big learning curve for me was just learning how to lose and how to bounce back a little bit quicker and kind of get over it quicker than previous. I mean, we lost four games last year in college, and every time we lost, we had four or five days in between to go through all the film, you know, you start working on drills from the game, like different things that you have to work on."

Cooper Flagg on dealing with a losing season:

“It’s definitely tough, like there was times in the start of the year where it was taking a big toll on me not personally but mentally. I don’t want to talk for anybody else, but like it’s definitely tough. Family’s freaking out like… pic.twitter.com/EIsoRdqHFR
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) April 3, 2026

Dallas Mavericks Need to Improve- Quick

Losing in a rookie season is one thing, but Cooper Flagg isn't going to be able to put up with losing for long. His parents were worried what joining a team like the Utah Jazz would do to him, who clearly had no interest in winning, but the Mavs haven't been much better.

Getting Kyrie Irving back will be huge next season, as will adding another lottery pick. But they have to add more shooting and more guard talent to get the most of Flagg's skills.

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