Very rarely does a teenager come to the NBA and play like an established star. Cooper Flagg belongs to that rare species. On Thursday, the Dallas Mavericks rookie dropped 49 points in a nailbiter loss to the Charlotte Hornets. It was the most points ever recorded by a teenager in the NBA. While Flagg’s remarkable performance further solidified his standing as a generational talent, a bewildering claim made by a former NBA player left many scratching their heads.

Former Mavericks player Jamal Mashburn hypothetically compared Flagg to the current freshman class in college basketball. Mashburn had already made up his mind over who a championship-caliber team should be looking at building their team around, and it’s not Flagg.

“So when you look at last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Cooper Flag, if I were to put him on that list, he would be sixth,” Mashburn said of the Mavericks rookie. “Just from a skill set and also the elevation level of where they can get to.”

Flagg, in his rookie year, will naturally not be perfect and certainly not without flaws. However, Mashburn’s further comments, made right after Flagg dropped almost 50 points, appeared slightly unfair for one reason.

“But I just think that this freshman class and you contribute to everybody from last year, those guys will still be at the top of the list,” Mashburn said. “I think Cooper Flagg has some holes in his game.”

After the Luka Doncic trade, Flagg automatically became the center of the Mavericks’ plans. The long-standing injuries to the team, however, aren’t his fault. But Mashburn’s favorite pick to build a championship team around drew more eyeballs.

“I personally think Caleb Wilson is going to take a humongous jump at the pro level, I think he has such a good pro game,” he added. “Over the long term, Caleb Wilson, in my opinion, is a piece that could be built around for a championship-caliber team.”

Only hours ago, Wilson scored 22 points against Georgia Tech to become the all-time leader in 20-point games by a freshman, passing Tyler Hansbrough in UNC history. He is averaging a double-double, 19.9 points, 10.1 rebounds on 58.8% shooting from the field for a No. 16 (17-4) Tar Heels team.

The 6-foot-10 Atlanta native is deservedly projected to be a top pick in this summer’s NBA draft, and the Hawks are expected to be one of the teams selecting early after landing a first-round choice from the lowly New Orleans Pelicans in a trade.

So, Mashburn is entitled to his opinion. However, his take seems a bit harsh, and to put it bluntly, really subjective. While the current freshman class has loads of talent in AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and Caleb Wilson, Flagg would still be the top pick.

Mashburn’s comments about holes in Flagg’s game stand in contrast to those of a popular NBA reporter who has covered LeBron James’ career.

Brian Windhorst makes gutsy LeBron James – Cooper Flagg comparison after historic game

If the Mavericks (19-30) hadn’t had multiple injury setbacks, things would look wildly different at this point. They drafted Cooper Flagg when they were scrambling with the chaos of trading Luka Doncic. The entire point of the trade was to welcome a defensive presence in Anthony Davis, but the veteran just couldn’t stay fit. However, Flagg has kept his composure, even when the team’s top two players, including Kyrie Irving, have been out with injuries.

Despite his historic 49-point outing, Flagg was unhappy with the loss. However, at such a young age, the Mavericks rookie controlled the tempo of the game, prompting ESPN’s Brian Windhorst to rank Flagg among the most remarkable rookies.

“I’ve been covering the NBA for 24 years, I’ve seen three teenagers before Cooper Flagg who have been blown away impressive to me,” Windhorst said, who also covered LeBron in his early years. “One was LeBron, one was Luka Doncic, and one was Victor Wembanyama. When it comes to the way Cooper controls the game on both ends of the floor, the only one he compares to is LeBron.”

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As the season has progressed, Flagg has slowly settled into his game. He can pick his spot, engage the opposition defense, and, more importantly, he has shown his willingness to sacrifice for the team. In fact, he started his professional career in a point guard position he had never held before. Head coach Jason Kidd branded his stopgap solution as good for Flagg’s long-term development, but there’s no denying the rookie was out of his favorite forward position.

“Now he has a different game than LeBron because he’s more of a defensive dominating player than LeBron was as a 19-year-old,” Windhorst continued. “LeBron had a more polished scoring game, although I’ll tell you right now Cooper’s jump shot is better than LeBron’s was at this age.”

The Mavericks will hope to take a bigger leap with their star rookie when Irving returns. But for now, it’s Flagg’s team, and he is handling it better than many expected.