Dallas’ Cooper Flagg sets new NBA scoring record for a teenager

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Cooper Flagg’s bid as this season’s Rookie of the Year is starting to look unanimous after another offensive masterpiece during the Dallas Mavericks’ 123-121 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Jan. 30, 2026.

Despite absorbing a painful defeat, Flagg inked his name in the NBA history books after recording the highest-scoring game by a teenager at 19 years and 39 days old.

Flagg was in the zone against the Hornets and tallied a new career-high 49 points, built from an efficient 20-of-29 shooting from the field, including three treys and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.

The former Duke University superstar surpassed the long-standing record of the Nets’ Clifford Robinson in 1980, when he dropped 45 points against the Detroit Pistons.

Aside from the single-game scoring record, Flagg became the youngest NBA player to finish a regular-season game with at least 40 points and 10 rebounds.

Flagg also joined Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Minnesota franchise player Anthony Edwards as the only teenagers in NBA history to tally multiple 40-point games.

The versatile skipper achieved his first 40-point NBA game last Dec. 16, 2025, top-scoring the Mavericks with 42 markers against the Utah Jazz, and followed it up with his 49-point masterclass against Charlotte.

Without Flagg’s offensive resurgence, the Mavericks almost got blown out and never clawed their way back from 15 points down.

Trailing by 13 points after the first quarter, Flagg kicked off his scoring avalanche in the second frame and spearheaded Dallas’ 38-26 outburst by halftime.

The Mavericks finally stole the lead in the third quarter, thanks largely to Flagg’s 15 points in seven minutes, but couldn’t regain footing in the fourth canto when the Hornets received clutch outings from Kon Knueppel, LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller.

Flagg almost propelled Dallas to a come-from-behind win after tying the back-and-forth affair, 121-all, with a clutch three-pointer in the remaining 34 seconds of the game.

However, Flagg fouled Knueppel on Charlotte’s next offensive play during an attempted drive to the basket, which the Hornets’ shooting guard cashed in from the charity stripe to seal the 123-121 win.

“It feels great. I’m honored. It’s special,” Flagg said after achieving the career milestone.

“Every possession, I’m trying to get better. Just figuring it out. How can I be effective? We had the chance to win down the stretch, so it’s tough.”