Only eight NBA rookies have ever scored more points in a game than Cooper Flagg did in the Dallas Mavericks’ (19-29) heartbreaking 123-121 loss to the Charlotte Hornets at American Airlines Center on Thursday.

Wilt Chamberlain scored 52 or more points five times in his rookie season of 1959-60 and owns the single-game rookie scoring record of 58 points, which came against the New York Knicks on Feb. 21, 1960. Five years later, Rick Barry scored 57 points as a rookie, also against the Knicks. Earl “The Pearl” Monroe scored 56 as a rookie in 1968 against the Los Angeles Lakers, and Milwaukee Bucks’ rookie Brandon Jennings went out of his mind for 55 against the Golden State Warriors in 2009. Jennings matched Elgin Baylor’s high-scoring game as a rookie 50 years after Baylor scored 55 for the Minneapolis Lakers against the Cincinnati Royals. Elvin Hayes scored 54 against the Detroit Pistons in 1968, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 51 against the Seattle Supersonics in 1970 and Allen Iverson scored 50 against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1997.

That is the rarified air that Flagg entered on Thursday with his 49 points on 20-of-29 shooting, to go along with 10 rebounds against his former Duke roommate Kon Knueppel and the Hornets. Flagg’s 49 points also matched the rookie-season-high scoring mark of some guy named Michael Jordan. His Airness poured in 49 in a 136-129 win over the Detroit Pistons on Feb. 12, 1985 in the most prolific scoring outburst of Jordan’s rookie campaign.

Rookies just don’t do the things that Flagg does — and that’s before you take into account the fact that Flagg started doing these things as an 18-year-old. Scoring 49 points in an NBA game at Age 19 is unheard of. Chamberlain was 23 years old when he rewrote the NBA record books as a rookie in 1959-60. Barry was 21 and nine months when he scored 57 points in a game during his rookie season. Jennings was a full year and change older than Flagg when he scored 55 points as a rookie for the Bucks. Iverson was two months shy of 22 when he scored 50 as a rook. Flagg became, with Thursday’s performance, the youngest player in NBA history (19 years, 35 days) to record a 45-point game.

Mavericks fans have seen some things, man. The 2011 NBA championship was a basketball fairy tale written by a team that zigged when the entire league was mid-zag, with the unlikeliest of protagonists at center stage. The rise of basketball savant Luka Dončić in our own backyard was the stuff of legend, made all the more quizzical by his untimely ouster. When it’s all said and done, though, the Legend of Flagg has the potential to move all that to one side if his career continues on the trajectory his rookie season has taken off on.

When people tell you who they are, it’s wise to believe them. When people show you who they are and what they’re about, you’re left with no choice in the matter. Flagg’s ability to take over a game is no mere flash in the pan. He shows us the fundamentals that gird his game-changing, high-flying explosiveness on a night-in, night-out basis. His game isn’t perfect, but he’s already shown a unique aptitude for learning on the fly and improving the weak spots in his game on the job as the youngest player in the league. Just wait until he’s had a full NBA offseason or two under his belt.

This kid is already a certified monster. He’s an omega-level mutant in a world of superheroes — there appears to be no upper limit to the development of the powers he possesses. Flagg defends better than any rookie we’ve seen take a swim through Dallas, both in passing lanes and on the ball. He can get to the rim against basically anyone. His mid-range game could fool a casual fan into believing they’re watching the savviest vet in the game. If Flagg ever becomes a true 3-point shooter and if he can cut his turnovers by a third, he’s going to be the best player in the NBA one day.

All that is to say nothing of Flagg’s most impressive skill — the ability to elevate his game in the final five minutes of a close game. He’s a killer. His game-tying 3-pointer on Thursday over the outstretched arm of 6’10” forward Moussa Diabate with 33 seconds showing on the clock is just the latest evidence of Flagg’s latent greatness, magnified when the lights are at their brightest.

The lumps he’s taking with a ragged roster around him in his rookie season will serve Flagg well, as long as the Mavericks’ front office can get its shit together behind whoever is inserted into the captain’s chair as the team’s next general manager. As exciting as Flagg’s rapid on-the-job development has been to watch in his rookie season, his demeanor is the glue that will eventually hold a winning team together.

“It’s tough,” Flagg said in his postgame press conference on Thursday. “We fight the whole game, play really heard, stick together, give ourselves a chance to win. It’s tough, but there [are] a lot of positives we can take from this. … With the turnover, I’ve just got to be better. I haven’t seen a ton of double-teams closing out games, so I just have to be a lot better.”

This is not a young man getting in over his skis or drunk on his own power. This is a kid who knows only winning and has a thirst to get back to his regularly scheduled dominance as soon as the roster around him allows for it.

“Ten-plus years down the road, we’ll both be looking back on this as a pretty special thing,” Flagg said on Thursday. He was referring specifically to his in-game battle with his friend Knueppel, who piled up 34 points on eight made 3-pointers for the Hornets in the win, but Mavs fans are no doubt envisioning another “pretty special thing” when they peer 10 years into Flagg’s potential career arc.

It’s hard not to, even as we recover from a deep burn less than a year old, because we’re bearing witness to things already in Flagg’s rookie season that few fans are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of. Let’s not take this for granted. The history books suggest not to.

Welcome to Inside the Suns, your weekly deep down analysis of the current Phoenix Suns team. Each week the Fantable — a round table of Bright Siders — give their takes on the Suns’ latest issues and news.

Fantable Questions of the Week

Q1: The Suns were slowly but steadily rising in the standings before Booker and Green went down with injuries, but have stumbled since then. Do you believe that the Suns currently have enough talent on their roster to successfully adapt to playing without them?

GuarGuar: I don’t think we have enough talent to beat good-to-great teams as long as Book and Jalen are out. Our offense just becomes way too bad, and we are unable to consistently generate good looks at all. Their gravity means so much to what we do, especially Book.

Ashton: I do not.

Look, I am getting sick of “re-evaluation” timelines that literally mean nothing. It means both players need recovery. Yes, this is probably a rant, but what the hell is going on with communication between the medical staff and trainers to the coach and the front office?

Trainer: Player X had reflexes when hit with a medical hammer in his right knee. He is good to go.

Front Office: Okay.

Fire those guys! No commercials saying that you are proud Suns supporters from the medical community unless you can properly diagnose that they need to rest. I want a true medical opinion from someone who is not a Suns fan.

Look, I love this win streak as much as the board does, but enough is enough. If it costs some wins, then it is what it is. But let’s really get to the heart of the matter. It is NBA scheduling to squeeze as much blood out of a turnip with the B2B’s and cross-country road games. It is basically killing the livelihood of the game and the established players who play it.

This may be the future of the NBA? Because the injury endemic is not just contained to the Suns, it is across the entire league.

Oh yeah, the question. I love the younger legs that are playing on the roster, but in the end, I expect the Suns to lose a couple.

OldAz: It depends on if they are playing at home or not. On the road, they are only competing with bottom dwellers without Book and Green. At home, however, it is a completely different story. The reason? Dillon Brooks. Most role players play better at home. The crowd, familiar surroundings, pregame rituals all contribute. But without Green and Booker, Brooks is their leader and best player. At home he averages 24.2 on 50/40/89 splits which is significantly better than his road averages of 17.9 on 39/34/84. Those splits are way too pedestrian from your best player when you competing on the road. Additionally, no one able to penetrate into the lane minimizes the impact Gillespie and the 3 point shooters can have.

Rod: This made me think of a time long ago when a friend and I went motocross racing, and he broke his bike’s chain during practice. All we needed to fix it was a new master link, but we didn’t have one. We tried several oddball fixes, but none worked, and he couldn’t race that day.

With Book and Green out, the Suns are kind of like that chain. All the remaining links are fine, but without that master link to tie them together, it will not be able to function. With the Suns, I don’t think talent is so much the issue as the right type of talent to make the rest of the team function well together.

Book and Green are the team’s two master links and, much like my friend and I at the races, they don’t have another master link in their toolbox to replace either of them with. Whatever the Suns can Rube Goldberg together while they’re out might work for a short time but I don’t believe we can hope for more than the Suns treading water in the standings and playing .500 ball until at least one of them returns…and even that may just be wishful thinking.

Q2: What adjustments do you think Jordan Ott should make to attempt to get the most out of the team while Book and Green are sidelined?

GuarGuar: The only other player who can generate offense and create opportunities for others is Gillespie. Our offense needs to run through him the most with Book and Jalen out. Brooks is a ball stopper, and we cannot be running the majority of our offense through him; we won’t get anywhere. Grayson is a great guard at attacking close outs and playing in space…not creating his own shot. I’d try to feature Mark post-ups a little bit more, but overall, if we are gonna win with this current group, it’s going to be because of defense.

Ashton: None. There are still plenty of guards to fill the role, even with Goodie in a face mask and CG out with a hand sprain.

If there was one adjustment I would make, it would probably be to put Brooks in a “Jason Vorhees” hockey mask with some type of AI-driven voice moderation. Maybe then the refs will not notice him because the Suns will be without his services for a game or three.

OldAz: I would do 2 things. First, focus on defense. The players that remain are mostly tenacious defenders (and O’Neale tries really hard). Like in the first half against the Pistons, their defense can carry them to compete against a lot of teams in the league when their top scoring option (or 2) is on the shelf.

Second, the have to develop more 2 man actions. Williams, Oso, Dunn can all be good screen partners allowing Gillespie, Allen or Bouyea to get into the lane. This has the added benefit of potentially getting the other 3 on the floor for some of those catch and shoot 3 opportunities that have dried up since Book’s exit.

Rod: I think the Suns need to simplify their offense and concentrate more on getting more points inside the paint instead of continuing to fire away from three. They especially need to get Williams more touches and tell Oso to drive to the basket more when he’s switched onto a smaller player. They just don’t work hard enough to get the ball into Williams’ hands, and Oso isn’t usually very aggressive on offense, preferring to pass rather than attempt to score on most nights. We saw a lot of that (minus the Oso being more aggressive) against Brooklyn…and it worked!

Once they get teams worried about them getting into the paint, they should begin seeing more open shots available from outside. But even when fully/mostly healthy again, going back to an offense that heavily relies upon three-point shots shouldn’t be the goal. They say that variety is the spice of life but I think that variety is also the key to a successful offense in the NBA.

Q3:Suns two-way contract players Jamaree Bouyea and Isaiah Livers are both running low on game eligibility. The Suns currently have one open roster spot, which they could use to convert one of their contracts to a standard NBA deal, which would make that player eligible to play in all of the team’s remaining games (including the playoffs).

Which of them do you currently believe is the better choice to convert?

GuarGuar: This is a really tough question because both have played really well when given minutes, and I’d want both on our roster going forward. That being said, assuming Jalen is gonna be ok health-wise, it makes more sense to sign Livers because we lack players at his position. We don’t have a ton of wings, and while Livers isn’t very big, he’s able to slide into some of those forward spots and be effective. I love what Bouyea has brought this year, though I wish we could sign both.

Ashton: The better question is why not convert two roster spots for both? Waive Nick Richards. I might take some flak for that statement but, bam, under the luxury tax and two roster spots open that keeps the Suns under the tax line. It is tax season after all. Major edit here, Rod basically told me that even waiving Richards and keeping both of the young talented players actually increases the tax penalty. Oh man, I knew I was going to get slapped upside the head on this question.

Still, I think the conversation needs to be about opening roster spots. And I want them both. If you can make it work, please comment in the section below.

I think both Bouyea and Livers (common all, these rank among some of the best last names in NBA history) just need some future development, and that is what has gotten the Suns this far. Yes, Livers has an injury issue, but I am all in on youth development at this point.

However, if I had to pick just one, it would be Jamaree with the most potential. Tough call.

OldAz: You just had to time this question for right after their really good showing against the Pistons (admittedly, I am writing this at halftime, so hopefully neither one poops the bed in the 2nd half). If this team is fully healthy, Livers fills a role which is a greater need. In reality, they have yet to be healthy so having an extra player who can shoot and handle the ball is very valuable.

Both really do deserve a full contract. In reality both have far more value than Nigel-Hayes Davis and even Nick Richards. Ideally, if they can Move Richards and it does not bring back a PF that earns minutes then hopefully the deadline deal both frees up another roster spot AND saves them enough money that converting both of them does not put them back over the tax level. That’s a lot to hope for, so I will just answer the question and say Livers. When Book and Green return, there really won’t be many minutes for Bouyea and Book and Green don’t do the things Livers can do.

Rod: Hopefully they’ll be able to convert both of them before the end of the season but, assuming that both Book and Green return soon (and can stay healthy), I’d pick Livers. He gets my vote because he fits the need for more big bodies up front (yeah, he’s only 6’6″ but he’s also 232 lbs of muscle) and he’s proven productive on the court.

At this point in time, we have no idea what might happen at the trade deadline which could change everything. We might have space to convert both of them or some sort of deal might come flying in from out of left field that leaves the Suns without a roster spot to convert either one…or a need to do so.

As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!

Quotes of the Week

“We have to do more, keep him (Mark Williams) going.” – Jordan Ott

“I just want to continue to be out there, doing whatever I can in my power to be the best version of myself and try to get some wins.” – Mark Williams

“I feel good any game that we go into with our defenders. We love taking the challenge, make things tough for the opponent. That’s what we’re going to do, create havoc.” – Royce O’Neale

“We’re not backing down from that (physicality). That’s not the message that JO (Jordan Ott) has had to us this whole year. That’s not the message that BG (GM Brian Gregory) has had. That’s not the message (team owner) Mat Ishbia has had for this team. We’re not going to back down from physicality. Wherever that line is, we’re OK with it.” – Grayson Allen

Suns Trivia/History

Mark Williams’ 27 points (13-of-15 FG) vs Brooklyn was his most in a Suns uniform and is tied for the third best in his career. His career high is 38 points with the Hornets during a game vs the Grizzlies back on Jan. 22, 2025.

On February 1, 2016, after getting off to a 14-35 start, the Suns fired head coach Jeff Hornacek and appointed Earl Watson as interim head coach. The Suns would continue to struggle throughout the rest of the season to finish with a 23-59 record.

On February 4, 1969, the expansion Suns defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 125-116 to post their 13th win of the season. It was the third win in their first-ever 3-game win streak, and the last time they would have successive wins that season.

On February 6, 2008, the 34-14 Suns traded Marcus Banks and four-time All-Star Shawn Marion to the Miami Heat for Shaquille O’Neal. O’Neal, who had been sidelined with a hip injury before the trade, was inactive for his first 5 games as a Sun but would start for the Suns, averaging 12.9 points and 10.6 rebounds, in 28 of their final 29 games of the season, in which they were 17-11. The Suns would finish the season as the 6th seed in the West with a 55-27 record and bow out of the playoffs quickly, losing their 1st round series with the San Antonio Spurs 4-1.

This Week’s Game Schedule

Friday, Jan 30 – Suns @ Cleveland Cavaliers (7:00 pm)
Sunday, Feb 1 – Suns vs LA Clippers (6:00 pm)
Tuesday, Feb 3 – Suns @ Portland Trail Blazers (9:00 pm) NBC/Peacock
Thursday, Feb 5 – Suns vs Golden State Warriors (8:00 pm) Prime Video

This Week’s Valley Suns Game Schedule

Friday, Jan 30 – Valley Suns vs Delaware Blue Coats (7:00 pm)
Sunday, Feb 1 – Valley Suns vs Delaware Blue Coats (2:00 pm)
Wednesday, Feb 4 – Valley Suns @ Rio Grande Valley Vipers (10:00 am)

Important Future Dates

Feb. 5 – Trade deadline (3:00 pm ET)
Feb. 13-15 – 2026 NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles, CA
March 1 – Playoff eligibility waiver deadline
March 28 – NBA G League Regular Season ends
March 31 – 2026 NBA G League Playoffs begin
April 12 – Regular season ends (All 30 teams play)
April 13 – Rosters set for NBA Playoffs 2026 (3 p.m. ET)
April 14-17 – SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament
April 18 – NBA Playoffs begin

First Victor Wembanyama is named the to the NBA All-Star starting five, the first French player in history to garner the honors.

Then the three young guards — Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, and David Jones Garcia — were named to the NBA Rising Star competition.

And now Spurs rookie Carter Bryant has signed on to the Slam Dunk Contest.

Yes, that Carter Bryant. The same one who was relentlessly teased for botching a couple of dunks.

Recently, when Victor Wembanyama and Keldon Johnson shaved their heads, Bryant was offered $20,000 to join in. When he refused, De’Aaron Fox decided he’d get a haircut if he blew three more dunks.

All kidding aside, Bryant has hops and has gotten notice by someone associated with the Slam Dunk Contest.

So far only Bryant and Jaxson Hayes are the only players invited. Three-time winner and reigning Slam Dunk Champ Mac McClurg will not participate in next month’s event after he was waived by the Indiana Pacers last November.

Check back for updates as contestants are confirmed.

The Slam Dunk Contest takes place on Valentine’s Day as part of All-Star Weekend.

Welcome to the Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.

Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, not to troll and to watch the language.

With four teams on the top three lines, the Big Ten continues to show out in USA TODAY Sports’ latest installment of bracketology.

But one Big Ten heavyweight, Purdue, drops to a No. 4 seed after falling 72-67 to Indiana on Tuesday night for its third loss in a row. The Boilermakers are now 7-3 in conference play, two games behind co-leaders Michigan, Illinois Nebraska and Michigan State.

The updated bracket finds s place for the Hoosiers, who have rebounded from a four-game slide with two wins in a row to climb to 14-7 overall and 5-5 in league play.

The Wolverines remain on the No. 1 line, joined by Arizona, Duke and Connecticut. Nebraska is a No. 2, along with Illinois, while Michigan State is a No. 3.

Purdue is replaced on the No. 3 line by Texas Tech, which moved to 16-4 on the heels of a five-game winning streak that included marquee victories against Brigham Young and Houston.

There was one slight change in the SEC. Auburn and Kentucky swapped spots, with the Tigers moving up to a No. 7 after winning four in a row and the always confounding Wildcats down to a No. 8 after getting losing by 25 points to Vanderbilt on Tuesday night.

March Madness Last four in

UCLA, New Mexico, Miami (Fla.), Indiana.

March Madness First four out

TCU, Virginia Tech, Seton Hall, Missouri.

NCAA tournament bids conference breakdown

Multi-bid leagues: Big Ten (11), SEC (10), ACC (8) Big 12 (7), Big East (3), Mountain West (3), West Coast (2).

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness Bracketology: Big Ten leads NCAA Tournament projection