Dallas Mavericks' Cooper Flagg passes Hall-of-Famer in NBA history against Jazz

The Dallas Mavericks were on the road on Monday night to face the Utah Jazz, looking to keep their winning ways going. They had won 5 of their last 6 games, and playing the Jazz was a good chance to keep it rolling. However, they would have to do it without Anthony Davis, who missed the game with a calf contusion. All that meant was more opportunity for Cooper Flagg.

And Flagg made the most of that opportunity, scoring 24 points in the first half alone. It was the 10th 20-point game of his career, an impressive feat for an 18-year-old.

With that performance, Flagg passed Tracy McGrady for the third most points in NBA history before turning 19 years old, and he only sits behind Kobe Bryant (539 total points) and LeBron James (625) at this point. The big difference is that Bryant played his entire NBA season as an 18-year-old, while James played 31 games. By the time Flagg turns 19 on Sunday, he'll have played in 28 NBA games. He likely never would've caught LeBron anyway, though.

Flagg entered the game with 437 total points, meaning he would need to average 25.5 PPG between this game against the Jazz and the three games they have before his 19th birthday to pass Kobe, which is possible, especially given his performance against the Jazz on Monday night. By the end of the third quarter, he had 28 points.

Cooper Flagg has passed Tracy McGrady for the third-most points in NBA history before turning 19 years old:

LeBron James - 625
Kobe Bryant - 539
Cooper Flagg - 461 (and counting)
Tracy McGrady - 451

Flagg's 19th birthday is in 6 days. pic.twitter.com/LTNuJlrP19
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) December 16, 2025

Cooper Flagg is as Impressive as it Gets

Flagg's 10 20-point games before his 19th birthday are the second-most in NBA history behind only LeBron James, who has 14. Even if Flagg were to score 20+ in each of the final three games before he turns 19, he'd end up falling one short.

He also has the second-most 20-point halves (3) in NBA history before turning 19, with LeBron James in first with four. He does have a chance of tying or breaking that with some more strong performances. Flagg has been incredibly aggressive in the first half of the two most recent games, which is something the Mavericks need to lean into more.

People wanted to try and claim that Flagg would be considered the 6th best prospect in this upcoming draft class, which is looking more and more absurd with every passing game. Everything he does at this point is mentioned in the same breath as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, which is impressive company to live in.

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