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Bronny James Welcomes Cooper Flagg to NBA With a Smooth Step-Back Jumper
The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers' clash in the NBA Summer League Thursday was a dream matchup, inasmuch as such a thing can exist in the NBA Summer League.
On the one hand, Mavericks fans received their first look at forward Cooper Flagg. On the other, Lakers fans got an early glimpse at guard Bronny James's potential improvement as questions loom about his father's future.
The two celebrities wasted little time doing battle, with James challenging Flagg less than a minute into the contest. The Duke product had no answer for a smooth James fadeaway attempt, which swished in to give Los Angeles a 2–0 lead.
Bronny James with the smooth step-back to open the scoring in Vegas 🔥#NBA2KSummerLeague on ESPN pic.twitter.com/4yFeFp6jmt
— NBA (@NBA) July 11, 2025
Bronny then hit a three over Flagg a short time later.
The triple gives Bronny the first 5 points for LA! https://t.co/tVQOfwjgbN pic.twitter.com/r2SXzZTe90
— NBA (@NBA) July 11, 2025
Flagg, who won virtually every collegiate individual award one can win this past season, was the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on June 25.
James, a second-round pick in 2024, is looking to build on a 2.3-point-per-game output in limited minutes a year ago.
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Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .