DALLAS (AP) — Victor Wembanyama dunked on Cooper Flagg's debut.
And shot over it. And dribbled around it. And reminded everyone what was missing the last two months of the French star's second season.
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Dallas Mavericks teammates Cooper Flagg (32), Anthony Davis (3), Kyrie Irving, second from left, and P.J. Washington (25) look on from the bench area during a timeout in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs in Dallas, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) drives against Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg reacts to a no-foul call during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs in Dallas, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama, right, is defended by Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) as forward Anthony Davis, second from left, looks on during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Wembanyama wowed the Dallas crowd, and had a noisy San Antonio contingent chanting “M-V-P! M-V-P!” in a season opener, getting 40 points and 15 rebounds in the Spurs' 125-92 rout of the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.
Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick, was the talk of the Dallas opener going in. Coming out, the talk was Wembanyama, who offered quite the reminder that he was the top overall choice just two years ago.
The 7-foot-4 sensation was playing in the regular season for the first time since deep vein thrombosis, a blood clot condition in his shoulder, required surgery and limited him to 46 games.
“I think we all knew he was going to be assertive,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “He's been out eight months. He’s been waiting for this probably longer and more thorough than anybody else. You saw him take the moment and play spectacular.”
Flagg scored for the Spurs before he scored for himself, getting called for goaltending in the second quarter. His first bucket finally came on the first possession of the second half as the 18-year-old former Duke star finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Flagg is the second-youngest player to start in his debut, two days older than LeBron James was 22 years ago.
“He’s still a rookie,” said 13-year veteran Anthony Davis, who opened his first full season with the Mavericks after coming from the Los Angeles Lakers in the Luka Doncic trade in February. “I’m not sure he’s a social media guy or not. But everything was No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg and Wemby matchup. So you’re hearing it. I’m not sure if it got to him, but it’s first-game jitters when it’s time for the real thing.”
Flagg didn't even attempt a shot in the last 22 minutes of the first half after putting up a pair in the opening two minutes, including a near-dunk on a fast break alley-oop from Davis. The ball started to go down but came back out.
He hit a jumper from the free throw line for his first points, and hit a tough fadeaway for his second bucket. Flagg was 4 of 13 from the field and had three turnovers.
“I was excited, but I’m excited to go on,” Flagg said. “Obviously, it hurts, the first loss being like that. Try to look forward to the next one, turn the page and get ready. We know we’ve got a lot better than that. Staying positive and staying ready.”
Wembanyama was downright dominant.
The 2024 Rookie of the Year keyed a 13-0 run late in the first half when he pump-faked out of a double team and was fouled by Davis on his way to a reverse dunk. At that point, he already had a flying one-handed jam and a reverse slam on an alley-oop.
Wembanyama had seven of San Antonio's 12 dunks as the Spurs outscored the Mavericks 68-26 in the paint and outshot Dallas 58%-37%. Wembanyama was 15 of 21 from the field and had three blocks.
“We needed to make a statement in the locker room. I feel like I needed to make a statement to my teammates,” Wembanyama said. “It’s also just the beginning because there’s so much more I want to add to my game. Some things take time and maturity.”
Wembanyama repeatedly went right at Davis, a five-time All-Defensive Team member. After the dunk late in the second quarter, he hit a jumper while drawing Davis' fourth foul. In the second half, he dribbled at and around him for a left-handed slam.
Davis was brought to Dallas for defense in a deal that cost the Mavericks a generational offensive star in his prime in Doncic.
Wembanyama's act was an eye-opener for Flagg, but not something he wasn't expecting.
“He’s incredible,” Flagg said. “He’s a different player. You can’t know what it’s like until you’re on the court with him. It’s something I’ve never seen before. He was great tonight, but we’ve to do a better job of trying to take away some of his looks. You can’t foul him as much as we did.”
The 6-9 Flagg was technically the starting point guard as the Mavericks await the return of Kyrie Irving, which is likely months away as he recovers from a torn ACL. Reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle's defense had plenty to do with a difficult debut.
“I thought he played well,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “The stat line is not going to stay that, but no one in this room is sitting in his shoes. I think as a rookie, he did fine. And he’s going to learn from this game. We all will.”
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Dallas Mavericks teammates Cooper Flagg (32), Anthony Davis (3), Kyrie Irving, second from left, and P.J. Washington (25) look on from the bench area during a timeout in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs in Dallas, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) drives against Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg reacts to a no-foul call during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs in Dallas, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama, right, is defended by Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) as forward Anthony Davis, second from left, looks on during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Danish official said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with President Donald Trump after highly anticipated talks in Washington with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The two sides, however, agreed to create a working group to discuss ways to work through differences as Trump continues to call for a U.S. takeover of the semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.
“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told reporters after joining Greenland’s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, for the talks.
Trump is trying to make the case that NATO should help the U.S. acquire the world's largest island and says anything less than it being under American control is unacceptable.
Denmark has announced plans to boost the country's military presence in the Arctic and North Atlantic as Trump tries to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover of the vast territory by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their designs on Greenland.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the roughly hourlong meeting.
But a few hours before the officials sat down, Trump said on his social media site that the U.S. “needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security.” He added that “NATO should be leading the way for us to get it” and that otherwise Russia or China would — “AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!”
“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote. “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
Løkke Rasmussen told reporters that it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”
“And we made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the kingdom,” he said after the meeting, citing a “fundamental disagreement” with the Trump administration but willing to keep talking.
Both Løkke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt offered measured hope that the talks were beginning a conversation that would lead to Trump dropping his demand of acquiring the territory and create a path for tighter cooperation with the U.S.
"We have shown where our limits are and from there, I think that it will be very good to look forward,” Motzfeldt said.
In Copenhagen, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced an increase in Denmark’s “military presence and exercise activity” in the Arctic and the North Atlantic, “in close cooperation with our allies”.
Poulsen said at a news conference the stepped-up military presence was necessary in a security environment in which “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.”
“This means that from today and in the coming time there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from other NATO allies,” Poulsen said.
Other NATO allies were arriving in Greenland along with Danish personnel, he said. Poulsen declined to name the other countries contributing to increased Arctic presence, saying that it is up to the allies to announce their own participation.
Earlier, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on X that “some officers from the Swedish Armed Forces are arriving in Greenland today” as part of a group from several allied countries. “Together, they will prepare events within the framework of the Danish exercise Operation Arctic Endurance,” Kristersson said. Two Norwegian military personnel also will be sent to Greenland to map out further cooperation with allies, the country’s Defense Minister Tore O. Sandvik told newspaper VG.
Greenland is strategically important because, as climate change causes the ice to melt, it opens up the possibility of shorter trade routes to Asia. That also could make it easier to extract and transport untapped deposits of critical minerals which are needed for computers and phones.
Trump says Greenland is also “vital” to the United States' Golden Dome missile defense program. He also has said he wants the island to expand America’s security and has repeatedly cited what he says is the threat from Russian and Chinese ships as a reason to control it.
But experts and Greenlanders question that claim, and it has become a hot topic on the snow-covered main street in Greenland’s capital, where international journalists and camera crews have descended as Trump continues his takeover talk.
“The only Chinese I see is when I go to the fast food market,” heating engineer Lars Vintner said. He said he frequently goes sailing and hunting and has never seen Russian or Chinese ships.
His friend, Hans Nørgaard, agreed, adding “what has come out of the mouth of Donald Trump about all these ships is just fantasy.”
Denmark has said the U.S., which already has a military presence, can boost its bases on Greenland. The U.S. is party to a 1951 treaty that gives it broad rights to set up military bases there with the consent of Denmark and Greenland.
For that reason, “security is just a cover,” Vintner said, suggesting Trump actually wants to own the island to make money from its untapped natural resources.
Mikaelsen, the student, said Greenlanders benefit from being part of Denmark, which provides free health care, education and payments during study, and “I don’t want the U.S. to take that away from us."
Løkke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt, along with Denmark’s ambassador to the U.S., planned to meet later Wednesday with senators from the Arctic Caucus. A bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers is also heading to Copenhagen this week to see Danish and Greenlandic officials.
Both Løkke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt said while they remain at loggerheads with Trump, but it remains critical to keep talking.
“It is in everybody’s interest — even though we disagree — that we agree to try to explore whether it is doable to accommodate some of the concerns while at the same time respecting the integrity of the Danish kingdom’s territory and the self-determination of the Greenlandic people,” Løkke Rasmussen said.
Burrows reported from Nuuk, Greenland and Ciobanu from Warsaw, Poland. Associated Press writers Stefanie Dazio and Geir Moulson in Berlin, Lisa Mascaro, Aamer Madhani and Will Weissert in Washington and Catherine Gaschka in Paris contributed to this report.
The demonstration under the slogan Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders is held in front of the American embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (Thomas Traasdahl/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, third from left, Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, not shown, and their delegations leave the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the grounds of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speaks at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Denmark's Foreign Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, right, and Greenland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Motzfeldt, left, prepare at the danish embassy for the meeting with the American Vice President, J.D. Vance, and Foreign Minister Marco Rubio in Washington D.C., Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
A fisherman carries a bucket onto his boat in the harbor of Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A boat travels at the sea inlet in Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
People walk near the church in Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A bird stands on a boat at the harbour of Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
People walk along a street in downtown of Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
