DALLAS (AP) — Dusty May's only dream growing up was coaching high school basketball in his home state of Indiana.
That's not to say he isn't ready for the jump from college to the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks after leading Michigan to its first national championship in 37 years this past spring.
“This is all too big of a dream,” May said Monday at his introductory news conference, a week after news broke that the Mavericks were close to a deal with
the 49-year-old with an impressive college resume.
“I did start preparing for this years ago, going to watch and trying to figure out if I could do this well. But as far as dreaming about coaching in the NBA, I never dreamed of coaching in the NBA, of coaching college, of coaching anywhere other than just being a coach in high school in my state. So as far a dream, no, this wasn’t a dream. But now, I’ve been preparing for this, to go against the best, for a long time.”
May spoke with new president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri to his left on a stage on the practice court of the club's arena. His wife and three boys were in the first row, with reigning Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg right behind them.
Also in the crowd was Morez Johnson Jr., drafted No. 9 overall last week by the Mavericks as the first of three Michigan players taken in a span of four lottery selections.
Yaxel Lendeborg, the No. 11 choice before Aday Mara went one pick later, had jokingly accused May of playing favorites with Johnson. May has no problem with that characterization now.
“I’m on Rez’s team now, so he’s definitely my favorite,” said May, who reiterated new general manager Mike Schmitz's message on draft night that May had little to do with Dallas picking Johnson. “Those guys, they had some friendly banter with all that. But the beautiful part of it, there was never any envy. These guys were each other’s biggest fans. And that’s one thing that we want to bring here to the Dallas Mavericks.”
May is replacing Jason Kidd, who was let go two weeks after Ujiri was hired. The Mavericks have missed the playoffs the past two seasons after reaching the 2024 NBA Finals behind Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
The landscape shifted suddenly with the shocking trade of Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2025. Nico Harrison, the engineer of that middle-of-the-night deal, was fired as general manager in November with the team off to a slow start last season.
Ujiri didn't come on board until after Dallas finished with a 26-56 record, its worst since losing 58 games the season before getting Doncic, the third overall pick in 2018.
Schmitz was hired days after Ujiri's introduction, and with the coaching staff complete, the Mavericks have wrapped up 17 months of upheaval by finishing the move into a new era.
“We want to bring joy back to basketball here,” Ujiri said. “It is a goal and I know we’re going to do it and I know the beginning of this joy and this goal starts here with this guy that we welcome as our basketball coach.”
Flagg is the centerpiece of a roster that includes two veterans with NBA championship pedigrees in Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson. Irving missed all of last season after tearing the ACL in his left knee in March 2025, a month after the Doncic trade.
Johnson has a chance to contribute to a frontcourt that includes 2023 first-round pick Dereck Lively II, whose career has been plagued by injuries, fellow center Daniel Gafford and forward P.J. Washington Jr.
Irving improves the outlook of the backcourt considerably, and the Mavericks on Monday exercised their 2026-27 contract option on point guard Ryan Nembhard, an undrafted rookie a year ago.
Flagg played plenty of point guard early in his only season under Kidd and has said he'll be better for it if he settles into a more familiar role as a wing or small forward.
“We have some really unique pieces,” May said. “Masai said, we’re here to win. When you have the nucleus we have, you can figure out a way to overachieve until you become the best team.”
Seven years ago, another Michigan coach — John Beilein — made the jump to the NBA but didn't last one season. May has the advantage of his two seasons with the Wolverines coming in the era of players being paid for name, image and likeness.
May, who also led Florida Atlantic to its only Final Four appearance, sees “similar problems, similar issues, similar challenges” in college and pro games that are “closer than ever.” He also sees limits to his advantage.
“It’s like being a parent,” May said. “You're never prepared, you're never ready. But hopefully you've prepared and done everything in your power to tackle all the challenges.”
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