Cooper Flagg from Dallas Mavericks surpasses LeBron James' record by only five days

The NBA No. 1 pick of the 2025 draft, from Dallas Mavericks, scored 35 points before turning 19.
Text: Javier Escribano
Published 2025-12-02

Cooper Flagg, 18-year-old basketball player at the Dallas Mavericks, first pick of the 2025 draft last summer, has finally broken a record held by LeBron James: the youngest player ever to score 35 points in a NBA game. It happened during a 114-110 victory for Dallas Mavericks against Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, the 20th NBA game for Flagg, who scored 35 points with only 22 field goal attempts.

Flagg, who was 18 years and 343 days old last Sunday, broke LeBron James' record by five days, as the first time the Los Angeles Lakers legend scored at least 35 points, back in 2003, James was 18 years and 338 days old.

This happened only weeks after Flagg tied with LeBron on a very similar record: the youngest player to score at least 25 points (26, specifically) in an NBA match. That happened on November 11: the Mavs lost 116-114, but Flagg scored 26 points (only four less than Giannis Antetokounmpo). He was 18 years and 324 days... which is the exact age LeBron had when he scored over 25 points for the first time!

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