Mac Engel: How COVID-19 put Cooper Flagg's first game as a Dallas Maverick in Fort Worth

Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Oct 4, 2025

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FORT WORTH, Texas — For the second time in a little more than a year Tarrant County, Texas will be the host to one of the most anticipated debuts in pro basketball.

In May 2024, Caitlin Clark made her pro debut with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever in a preseason game against the Dallas Wings at the College Park Center in Arlington. That game generated national attention.

On Monday, Oct. 6, Cooper Flagg will make his NBA debut with the Dallas Mavericks in a preseason game against the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. This game will generate international attention.

Flagg’s debut is arguably the most anticipated NBA debut since LeBron James entered the league in 2003. Even though it’s only a preseason game, and Flagg’s minutes will be closely monitored (cough cough — restricted — cough cough) this will be a watched debut.

Why on Earth, or any other planet, would the Mavericks farm out the debut of its franchise-altering player to a smaller arena 35 miles to the west of its home?

“I hadn’t thought of it that way; this was a promise that was made a long time ago,” Dallas Mavericks president Rick Welts told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “This had been planned years ago. It was supposed to happen during the COVID year.”

Shortly after Dickies Arena opened in 2019, organizers eyed hosting a potential Dallas Mavericks preseason game. The arena has hosted NCAA Tournament games, as well as major college conference tournaments.

The Mavericks have played in Fort Worth before, but it’s been a minute. The Mavs played an exhibition game against the Houston Rockets at the Tarrant County Convention Center in October of 1980, the Mavs’ first season.

When Dickies Arena originally scheduled a preseason date with the Mavericks, it was during that prolonged COVID-19 period when all calendars, and most plans, were tossed into the shredder. The game was canceled, and eventually rescheduled to 2025.

Unlike Clark’s debut against the Wings, which happened because of shrewd planning and scheduling by team president Greg Bibb, Flagg’s appearance in Fort Worth is 99.9% luck. Not quite the level of luck required to win the NBA draft lottery, but good fortune and timing.

“This was not a decision that was made in the last eight or nine months. This was a decision that was made last year or so. You lock in preseason games long in advance. This game was locked in well before we knew Luka (Doncic) would not be here, and Cooper Flagg would,” Welts said.

“This was the first opportunity to do this because we only had one home (preseason) game scheduled.”

When this agreement was made the idea of the Mavs winning the draft lottery the year Flagg would be the consensus No. 1 pick was not even the stuff of fiction writers. This time one year ago, did anyone anywhere believe that Doncic would be on the L.A. Lakers to start the 2025-‘26 season?

Tickets for the Mavs/Thunder preseason game on TicketMaster are available, ranging between $59 to $1,300. Fort Worth mayor Maddie Parker is scheduled to appear to make a declaration before tipoff.

The Dallas Mavericks TV production team plans to blow this out, making a big deal with a pre- and post-game show from the plaza outside of Dickies Arena.

The shot, which features downtown Fort Worth in the background, is arguably the best vista for any TV production crew in DFW. Downtown Dallas has a broader, taller skyline, but there is no natural fit for a TV team to set up and use it as the background.

TCU football coach Sonny Dykes, men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon and women’s basketball coach Mark Campbell are all scheduled to appear during the broadcast.

Some of the above may have happened without Flagg, but his presence made making this particular preseason game a bigger event than a typical exhibition NBA game.

So far he’s briefly appeared in one summer league game in Las Vegas for the Mavs, and now is practicing as the team is in training camp.

The Mavs preseason schedule is only four games, with one scheduled for the American Airlines Center, on Oct. 11 against Charlotte. Their preseason game on Oct. 15 against the L.A. Lakers is scheduled to be played in Las Vegas.

Flagg’s regular-season debut should be Oct. 22, at home, against the San Antonio Spurs.

The Mavs are not too concerned, or disappointed, that their franchise-altering player will make his debut with the team 40 miles west of Dallas. This is one of those scheduling quirks that just happened to work this way.

For Dickies Arena, however, this is a lottery winner.