Cooper Flagg Shares Honest Thoughts on Carrying Mavericks Fans' Expectations in Emotional Matchup Against Luka Doncic

Cooper Flagg's Mavericks and Luka Doncic's Lakers will play one of the biggest games on the calendar on Friday. It's the first meeting between the teams in the regular season and the third since the infamous Doncic trade in February. It's an overly emotional matchup for the Slovenian and the Mavericks fan base, who will weigh their expectations on 18-year-old rookie Flagg to deliver a win.

He dished his honest thoughts on that game after Monday's loss to Miami, saying (via Mavericks' beat writer Mike Curtis):

"I would say to me, it's another game. I know there's gonna be a lot of other things that go into that game & through a lot of these guys' mindsets & whatnot. For me, it's just another game.

"I'm trying to survive day by day, take everything one day at a time, one game at at time. Right now, we're just trying to find ways to win."

Mike Curtis

@MikeACurtis2

Cooper Flagg was asked about Friday's upcoming game against the Lakers/Luka Doncic & if it means anything to him:​"I would say to me, it's another game. I know there's gonna be a lot of other things that go into that game & through a lot of these guys' mindsets & whatnot. For me, it's just another game. I'm trying to survive day by day, take everything one day at a time, one game at at time. Right now, we're just trying to find ways to win."

Cooper Flagg has been widely perceived as the team's savior after Dallas won the lottery with a 1.8% chance and drafted him with the No. 1 pick. It was the biggest and probably the only silver lining after trading Luka Doncic for an aging and injury-prone Anthony Davis.

Things have gone from bad to worse for the Mavericks since then. Former general manager Nico Harrison, the key architect of the Doncic-Davis trade, claimed Dallas had a three-to four-year window to compete for championships after the move.

Unfortunately for the Mavericks, that window may never open after a 5-14 start. Davis, 32, has been injured since Oct. 29, missing 14 games due to a calf strain. Kyrie Irving, 33, has yet to return from ACL surgery.

After firing Harrison for the Doncic trade, among other factors, several reports suggest the Mavericks may look to move on from Davis and Irving and rebuild around Flagg.

On the other hand, the Lakers are 12-4 with Doncic, who is averaging a career-best and league-leading 34.5 points. LA isn't in the top tier of contenders, but if it makes a move or two, Doncic could be winning his first ring sooner rather than later in the Purple and Gold.

A win on Friday against Luka Doncic's Lakers could do wonders for Cooper Flagg and Mavericks' morale

The Mavericks fan base dreads the Luka Doncic trade to this day. They were months removed from a finals appearance and had tweaked their roster to add the ideal pieces for making another run at the title before Nico Harrison pulled the plug on the Doncic era overnight.

Since then, the Mavericks fans haven't had anything to look forward to beyond Cooper Flagg's development. Those emotions have likely weighed on the Mavericks locker room, too, which will be keen to flip the script and give the team's supporters something to cheer about.

Dallas will have the opportunity on Friday. If Flagg and Co. manage to win against expectations, it would do wonders for the team's morale. It's an unlikely result, but the NBA is unpredictable; games can swing either way in the blink of an eye.

The Mavericks could also see Anthony Davis return, who would be motivated to dominate his former team and regain some support in Dallas. According to insider Marc Stein's report from Tuesday, the 10-time All-Star will practice on Wednesday in a bid to rejoin Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks against the Lakers.