Dusty May never imagined coaching in NBA, says he prepared for jump to Mavericks from college | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Dusty May said he never imagined coaching in the NBA before joining the Dallas Mavericks, moving from college after leading Michigan to its first national championship in 37 years. Speaking at an introductory news conference on Monday, a week after reports that Dallas was close to a deal for the 49-year-old, May described his ambition as rooted in coaching high school basketball in Indiana rather than dreaming of the professional league. He said he began preparing “for this” years ago, watching and assessing whether he could do it at the top level. May met with Mavericks president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri and was introduced with family and rookies present, including reigning Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg and Morez Johnson Jr., drafted No. 9 overall last week, followed by Yaxel Lendeborg. He replaces Jason Kidd, released two weeks after Ujiri’s hiring, after Dallas missed the playoffs in the previous two seasons and followed the February 2025 trade that sent Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers.