Cooper Flagg drops a career-high 42 points, breaks decades-old LeBron James record in overtime loss to Jazz
- - Cooper Flagg drops a career-high 42 points, breaks decades-old LeBron James record in overtime loss to Jazz
Ryan Young December 16, 2025 at 12:10 AM
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Cooper Flagg is the only 18-year-old in NBA history to record a 40-point game. (Rob Gray-Imagn Images) (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
Cooper Flagg broke a decades-old LeBron James record on Monday night, just days before his 19th birthday.
It still wasn’t enough to lead the Dallas Mavericks past the Utah Jazz.
Flagg dropped a career-high 42 points in the teams’ 140-133 overtime loss to the Jazz on Monday at the Delta Center. That broke James’ record for the most points scored in a single game by an 18-year-old in NBA history.
James, who was the No. 1 overall pick back in 2003 right out of high school, set the record against the Boston Celtics in December during his rookie season when he put up 37 points as an 18-year-old. James and Flagg are actually the only two players in NBA history to both put up more than 24 points in a single game at that age, which they’ve done now a combined 14 times. Both Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant put up 24 points in a single game at that age early in their respective careers, too.
Though Flagg has come close, he put up 35 points against the Los Angeles Clippers last month, he finally recorded the first 40-point night of his career on Monday in Salt Lake City.
Flagg went 13-of-27 from the field and made 15 free throws for the Mavericks. He had 14 points in the first quarter after shooting 5-of-7 from the field, which helped Dallas to an early six point lead. He had 12 points in the fourth quarter alone, and he missed a free throw with less than five seconds to go on purpose to help set up a wild comeback that eventually forced overtime — thanks to a clutch rebound from Max Christie.
Cooper Flagg makes one, misses the second but Max Christie gets the rebound and gets fouled. Ties the game with 3 seconds remaining pic.twitter.com/Sc98xSfmbG
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) December 16, 2025
But despite Flagg’s outing, the Jazz pulled away and opened overtime on an 11-4 run to pick up the win. Keyonte George led the Jazz with 37 points, and Lauri Markkanen added 33 points and 16 rebounds. The win, Utah’s second straight, pushed it to 10-15 on the year.
P.J. Washington had 25 points and 13 rebounds to go with Flagg’s 42-point night. Naji Marshall had 15 points, and Ryan Nembhard finished with 14 points and 11 assists. The Mavericks fell to 10-17 with the loss.
Flagg also matched Mark Aguirre for the most points scored by a rookie in Mavericks history. He now trails only James and Bryant for the most points scored in the NBA before turning 19, though Flagg’s birthday is on Saturday.
While the Mavericks have not gotten out to the best start this season, Flagg has more than lived up to the hype that came with being the No. 1 overall draft pick in June. Monday’s historic outing was just another example of that.
Source: “AOL Sports”
