Maine basketball star Cooper Flagg is set to make his debut on Thursday in his first NBA Summer League game.
The Newport-native was drafted first overall by the Dallas Mavericks who will square off against the Los Angeles Lakers in Las Vegas on Thursday.
The Lakers Summer League team is led by Bronny James, the son of LeBron James.
Summer League fans hoping to score a ticket will have to shell over $200, making it the most expensive ticket in Summer League history.
Flagg has been considered a can’t miss, generational talent since he wowed the nation in his single college season at Duke and when the Mavericks unbelievably landed the top pick, they were a shoo-in to take Flagg.
The Mavericks had less than a 2 percent chance at the top pick.
In 2022, Flagg led Nokomis High School as a freshman to its first state basketball championship and earned honors as Maine’s Boys Basketball Player of the Year and USA Basketball’s Male Athlete of the Year.
Flagg then transferred to play for Montverde Academy in Florida, the top-ranked high school team in the country.
In 2024, Flagg was the youngest player chosen for the USA Basketball Men’s Select Team, prior to attending Duke University. At Duke, he was named both the 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year.
Flagg’s NBA debut will be broadcast nationally on ESPN at 8 p.m. Thursday.