Why Jason Kidd benched Cooper Flagg against the Thunder
The Dallas Mavericks fell 101-94 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, with Cooper Flagg watching most of the fourth quarter from the bench. The rookie was dealing with left shoulder pain after making contact on the first possession and running out of time despite playing 31 minutes.
Dallas trailed by as many as 22 points before cutting the deficit to one with 54.8 seconds left, but Flagg checked out with 8:14 left and only came back for two late defensive possessions.
After the game, the head coach Jason Kidd referred to the decision on the benchaccording to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
“It wasn’t his night tonight,” Kidd said. “We are a team and understand that the group that was there put us in a position to win. He wasn’t on the floor, but he was rooting for his teammates.”
Flagg shot just 1-of-9 from the field and finished with two points, two rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes. The rookie admitted that he had no problem with Kidd’s decision and understood the reasoning behind it.
“As the game went on, we had a group that worked really well and were on the run, so I can see where coach was with that,” Flagg said. “And I mean, I was flat. I wasn’t myself. I wasn’t impacting the game at a high level, I wasn’t doing the right things. So obviously, it’s an easy decision for the coach. He was just trying to win the game.”
Oklahoma City’s length bothered the Mavericks down the stretch, with Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein making key plays to seal the victory. Flagg is listed as day-to-day and will undergo a scan on his left shoulder before Wednesday’s game against the Indiana Pacers.
His combatives followed one night later 22-point, no-turnover performance against the Toronto Raptorswhere he became the second 18-year-old in NBA history to score 20-plus points with zero turnovers. A regular schedule and a shoulder problem likely contributed to his decline in production.
Kidd said Flagg was a “tough kid” as he played through the pain, but emphasized that the team will assess how he feels before making any decisions about his availability.
2025-10-28 15:12:00
