Cooper Flagg has another NBA record to his name.
The Dallas Mavericks rookie scored 51 points in the team’s 138-127 home loss to the Orlando Magic on April 3, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to record a 50-point game, according to the league.
Flagg, 19, reached the mark at the American Airlines Center. The NBA said he became “the youngest EVER to drop a 50-piece.” He was also the first teenager to do it.
Before Flagg’s night against Orlando, the record belonged to Brandon Jennings, according to The New York Times. Jennings scored 55 points as a rookie guard for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2009, when he was 20.
Flagg’s 51-point performance included 24 points in the fourth quarter. According to SportsCenter, it also made him the ninth rookie in NBA history to post a 50-point game.
The NBA later shared a locker-room clip of Flagg’s teammates pouring water on him and presenting him with the game ball.
Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd praised the 19-year-old after the game. Kidd was ejected on a technical foul after arguing with referees over a call involving Flagg, according to The New York Times.
He said Flagg “should be [NBA] Rookie of the Year,” per the Times.
“The country is not watching the same thing we get to watch on a daily basis,” Kidd said, adding that Flagg is “in rare air.”
Flagg, who is listed at 6-foot-9 and is from New England, is nicknamed “The Maine Event.” According to the NBA, he has now had three games of 40 or more points this season, the most by a rookie since Allen Iverson in the 1996-97 season.
Kidd said Flagg’s “spirit is about winning.”
“Right now, we’re not. But as he just said in the locker room, we are just going to be that much better come next season,” Kidd said, per the Times.
Kidd also said the expectations on Flagg since he entered the league have been “extremely high,” and that he has “delivered.”
“He’s checked every box every time he’s taken the floor,” Kidd added of Flagg.
In December, Flagg spoke to PEOPLE about playing for Dallas and said winning was his focus.
“I mean, I think that it’s cool to think about being able to play at a place like this,” Flagg told PEOPLE. “But for me it’s about just staying present, being in the moment and just being excited, day by day and handling business.”
He also said that “outside of all the craziness and everything that’s going on, it still boils down to being a kid and, and enjoying my life in as many ways as I can.”
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