‘You Live With Kai Shooting This’: Jason Kidd Defends Kyrie Irving Taking Final Shot Over Cooper Flagg In Dallas Mavericks’ Loss To San Antonio Spurs

DALLAS — On ESPN’s NBA Today on Thursday, former Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said the Mavericks could live with Kyrie Irving taking the final shot of Wednesday night’s 112-111 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Cooper Flagg did not get the ball on the play.

Out of a timeout with 24.2 seconds left and Dallas down 112-111, the Mavericks ran a play for Irving to drive middle against De’Aaron Fox with Flagg cutting from the corner. Irving’s 15-foot turnaround jumper missed with 2.5 seconds left at Frost Bank Center, and Dylan Harper grabbed the rebound. Irving finished with 29 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists on 9-of-27 shooting.

Kidd coached Dallas for five seasons before the two sides parted ways May 19, and ESPN hired him Oct. 15 as an analyst for NBA Countdown and select game broadcasts. He coached Irving from the time the Mavericks traded for him in February 2023. During Kidd’s final season in Dallas, Flagg won 2025-26 Rookie of the Year after averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 70 games. Kidd shared the same award as a Mavericks rookie in 1994-95.

Kidd said Flagg was stationed in the corner on the play the Dallas staff drew up, and that Irving maybe could have passed it to P.J. Washington, who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Victor Wembanyama was sitting in the paint, according to Kidd. Wembanyama finished with career highs of 52 points and 24 rebounds and blocked 8 shots.

“I think understanding you have Kyrie Irving, a future Hall of Famer, and as a coach, you want your best players to be able to be involved in,” Kidd said. “With this play, Kai touches it. Understand Cooper’s in the corner. This is the play that coach drew up. Understand you live with Kai shooting this.”

“Maybe he could have passed it to PJ, but here’s the deal. Victor’s in the paint waiting on him, and so just understanding for Cooper, he’s going to get involved,” Kidd continued. “But understanding last night they went to Kai, and when they believed that Kai was going to make that shot.”

Dusty May Explains Dallas Mavericks’ Final Play For Kyrie Irving

Dallas went into the final play a little bit too late, Mavericks coach Dusty May said after the game. The Mavericks inbounded with 24.2 seconds left, and Irving’s shot went up with 2.5 seconds remaining.

“I just wanted to give him a double gap. We had Fox on him and wanted to get a drive middle and Coop cutting from the corner,” May said. “Just felt like we had an advantage in space and probably attacked a little bit too late.”

With 1:41 left, Naji Marshall tied the game at 111 with a three-pointer off a Flagg pass. Marshall blocked a Fox jumper on the next possession, but Devin Vassell stole Marshall’s pass at 1:24. Irving missed a 27-foot three-pointer with 43.3 seconds left, and Washington fouled Wembanyama with 24.2 seconds left. Wembanyama missed the first free throw and made the second.

Irving said he had a great chance to beat Fox going right on the last play. He went 1-of-5 from the field with 2 points in the fourth quarter, and his driving floater with 2:30 left had cut the deficit to 109-108.

“I think we had a play called. We talked about it after the game as well, just in terms of the timing of it and just knowing time to score and just what everybody’s comfortable with,” Irving said. “I’m truly grateful to have the confidence from my teammates, and I have the most confidence in myself to be able to make some tough shots down the stretch. But it was a great play call for me to at least create an advantage and take a shot at least going to the rim.”

“And I got a good look at it, but I just didn’t have my legs underneath me as well. And Fox did a great job of bumping me off my spot,” Irving continued. “And that’s just sometimes the tale of the game.”

Cooper Flagg Scored 15 After Halftime Before Final Possession

Over the first half, Flagg went 1-of-11 from the field and scored 4 points. He scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting after halftime and was plus-18 in the second half, finishing with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists on 7-of-19 shooting. He was the only Mavericks starter with a positive plus-minus for the game, at plus-2.

With 6:05 left, Flagg finished an alley-oop from Caleb Martin and made the free throw to tie the game at 100. He also set up both of Marshall’s biggest fourth-quarter shots, a three-pointer that cut the deficit to 94-92 with 8:17 left and the one that tied it at 111. Marshall scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting off the bench.

May said Flagg got lost in rebounding after halftime. Flagg played 40:02, the most of any Dallas player.

“I thought the same thing in the first half. I thought he was making shots that he had made all year up to that point, and they just weren’t dropping for him,” May said. “But I thought he just got lost in rebounding, and I thought he made great passes. I thought he played really well in just a really good floor game in the second half.”

Irving said the Mavericks have to do a better job as teammates of supporting Flagg, and that Flagg knows it is a choice at times to be aggressive and seek his own shot.

“He’s going to go through ups and downs just like every other professional. It doesn’t take away from his talent or his skill set or what he’s capable of doing,” Irving said. “He’s just got to figure it out, and we’ve got to do a better job as teammates of giving him that support. He has the confidence in himself, but I think he knows it’s just a choice that he’s got to make at times just to go out and be aggressive and seek his own shot.”

“I think he started to do that in the second half, and you look at the plus-minus, I mean, he was plus-two, pretty much out of the starting five,” Irving continued. “So he was giving us what the game needs, and I think we’ll only see him get better from these last two games.”

The loss dropped Dallas to 4-4, and San Antonio (6-2) won its sixth straight game, as detailed in the full recap. The Mavericks host the Utah Jazz on Friday at American Airlines Center in NBA Cup group play, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. CT.