After an up-and-down debut for Cooper Flagg, Charles Barkley warns the Mavericks about the current experiment with the rookie. As the “Inside the NBA” crew is now on ESPN from TNT in the past, Barkley would talk at halftime about Flagg being scoreless and how his main job is initiating the offense.

If there was anyone with a highly anticipated rookie debut in a long time, it is undoubtedly Cooper Flagg, one of the youngest players ever to debut in NBA history. It was clear during the summer that head coach Jason Kidd planned to push him into some uncomfortable positions.

Cooper Flagg soared toward the rim for an alley-oop attempt that could have been a spectacular start, but the ball rimmed out.

The NBA’s No. 2 pick and son of former NBA star Ron Harper played in his first professional game. His girlfriend stole the show, though.

Cooper Flagg will make his regular-season debut on Wednesday and a new Gatorade ad voiced by Dirk Nowitzki sets the tone.