It took just two minutes for Hunter and Ace Flagg to rise from their courtside seats to celebrate their brother’s first highlight of the night.
Cooper Flagg made a baseline cut and threw down a two-handed dunk through contact over Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson. The sibling duo patted their heads repeatedly to symbolize another posterizing finish for the sensational Mavericks rookie, who hung on the rim with one hand, swaying side to side.
Tuesday night marked the first time Flagg’s brothers sat courtside to watch him play an NBA game and they had the best seats in the arena to witness his best performance at American Airlines Center.
Cooper finished with 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists to help the Mavericks capture a thrilling 131-130 win over the Nuggets. The Dallas Morning News spoke with Ace and Hunter during halftime to discuss Flagg’s impressive performance.
“It was sick,” Ace Flagg told The News. “It’s a different feeling, especially courtside. When you see a great play like that with a dunk early, you just get hype.”
While Hunter is the oldest of the Flagg siblings, Ace is Cooper’s fraternal twin and a 6-8 freshman forward at Maine. He was a three-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting class. The twins, who hail from Newport, Maine, were originally part of the same class until Cooper reclassified to the 2024 recruiting class so he could play his only year of college basketball at Duke last season.
Cooper discussed how his relationship with Ace has developed since he’s entered the NBA.
“It was great,” Cooper said. “He’s going through his first college season at Maine, but we play the game together all the time, just staying connected. It’s great to have him around. I don’t get to see him as much anymore.”
Cooper and Ace attended Nokomis High School together in Newport as freshmen and transferred to Montverde Academy, where they were teammates for two years. Ace spent his final season of high school at Greensboro Day School in Greensboro, North Carolina, which was just an hour away from Cooper’s college campus in Durham.
“Last year was really the first year that we weren’t at the same school or on the same schedule. It was different,” Cooper said. “It was great to have him around.”
Hunter and Ace were animated throughout the game. They reacted to each one of Cooper’s career-high four 3-pointers, by throwing up three fingers and occasionally mimicking the popular “Ice in my Veins” celebration. They rose to their feet once more in the third quarter when Cooper threw down a more vicious dunk over Spencer Jones.
“That’s the stuff we’ve been watching him do since he was at Duke,” said 21-year-old Hunter, who also played high school basketball at Nokomis. “It’s cool to see, especially sitting here with my other brother. We get to watch him and really see him grow as a player. He gets more confident every game. It’s been pretty special.”
Cooper started the first seven games as the Mavericks’ starting point guard. He went through his fair share of growing pains as he adjusted to attracting the best perimeter defenders on a nightly basis, but the experience allowed him to grow comfortable when his team requires him to initiate the offense, especially during clutch moments.
His most significant play of Tuesday was arguably a pass, as he found Naji Marshall for an open 3-pointer during the waning minutes of the game.
“I think it starts with him coming and playing a point-forward position, bringing the ball up, something he’s not really used to,” Hunter said. “Taking him out of his comfort zone and making him grow as a player. I think it’s been nothing but beneficial. He’s only been hitting the gym and getting the work in every single day.
“It’s been incredible to watch him grow as a player. It’s only been 30 games or so. Still got a lot of games left. We’re both excited. We’re all excited to see how he grows over the course of the season. He’s been nothing but humble. He’s been a sponge. He’s been soaking it all up. He’s just been the perfect rookie, I would think. He’s been doing everything he needs to do.”
Story by Mike Curtis, the Dallas Morning News.
