Cooper Flagg Drops Classy Message After Paige Bueckers Pulls Up to Witness His Career-High Night in Dallas

Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers was courtside to support Cooper Flagg on his career-high night on Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans. Flagg during his postgame press conference, dropped a classy message in honor of Bueckers.

Flagg, who like Bueckers was drafted with the No. 1 pick, praised her rookie season. He asserted that he enjoyed the support and would love it to continue, as he also visited one of her games immediately after Dallas drafted him.

“Paige… She obviously had an incredible rookie season,” Flagg told reporters. “She’s gonna do amazing things in her career, so it’s kind of cool for her to show up. I was able to go to one of her games right after the draft when I got down here.”

“It’s cool just to see the support and show up and be there for each other, I think that’s pretty cool,” he added. “Hopefully we will keep it going moving forward.”

Paige Bueckers was in attendance for the second consecutive Mavericks game. She was present on Wednesday during Dallas’ 113-111 loss to the New York Knicks, a game Flagg missed due to an illness.

The Mavericks’ rookie, however, returned to face the Pelicans where he led all scorers with 29 points, a career-high. He added seven rebounds and five assists as the Mavericks snapped a two-game losing streak to win in Saturday’s round of NBA Cup games.

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Paige Bueckers speaks on dealing with criticism

Paige Bueckers spoke with USA Network Traci Lee in an exclusive interview on Monday. She spoke on how she stayed focused during her rookie season despite the highs and lows she faced.

“It's been a learning process of learning how to stop caring about other people's opinions of you,” Bueckers said. “Don't look to the left, don't look to the right. Run your own race and just be super driven, super purpose-filled, and be super present-minded.”

The Dallas Wings ended the 2025 season out of playoff contention with a 10-34 record. Despite the team's struggles, she ended her rookie season with 19.2 points, 3.9 assists and 5.4 assists per game, winning the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year.