It’s not often that the collective NBA world radiates with excitement to watch a No. 1 overall draft selection battle in the post against a former No. 55 overall pick during a meaningless Summer League outing, but Cooper Flagg and Bronny James surely gave fans a reason to tune into their first-ever faceoff on Thursday night.
Flagg’s Dallas Mavericks eventually pulled out a narrow 87-85 victory over James’ Los Angeles Lakers after James missed a go-ahead three-pointer on the left wing as the game clock all-but expired, but the explosive 6-foot-2 guard gave the top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft all he could handle.
James and Flagg had a few notable clashes, namely with the latter operating with his back to the basket and the former acting as a worthy, but undersized challenger.
Following the conclusion of the contest, the Lakers’ two-way talent spoke about his mindset with regard to handling Flagg on the block as a strong, but determined defender at the guard position.
“Just trying to hold my ground,” James told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin on Thursday.
“He’s got like, half a foot on me.”
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“He was great, I watched him (through) all of college, and (he’s) an amazing player.”
“He’s going to be something special.”
It is true that Flagg possesses a 7-inch advantage in the height department, but that certainly never crossed James’ mind while in the heat of battle.
Heading into his sophomore campaign, the son of the Lakers’ future Hall of Fame inductee and 21-time All-Star LeBron James will be aiming to eventually break into the team’s rotation after tearing up the G-League for the franchise’s South Bay affiliate in 2024-25.
Through 11 appearances last season with the South Bay Lakers, the former No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft turned heads by averaging 21.9 points, 5.4 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals while knocking down 38.0% of his 8.4 attempts from three-point range.
In limited minutes at the NBA level, James contributed 2.3 points and 0.8 assists in only 6.7 minutes, but the uber-athletic guard could be preparing for a break-out season in 2025-26.
James will run into plenty of other tall guards throughout his professional basketball career, but his initial clash against one of the best draft prospects in recent memory proved that the 20-year-old is more than willing to take on any prospective ball-handler standing in his path.
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