Just months after guiding Michigan to the 2026 NCAA national championship, May officially took over as the Mavericks’ head coach, replacing Jason Kidd. Speaking during his introductory press conference, the former Wolverines coach explained how a conversation at the NBA Draft Combine evolved into an NBA coaching opportunity.
May revealed that he initially had no plans to leave Michigan.
“At that point, I had full intentions of being back at Michigan no matter what,” May said. “We had a great conversation. It had nothing to do with this position.”
May explained that he was meeting with Mavericks president Masai Ujiri and general manager Mike Schmitz in Chicago to discuss Michigan’s three NBA Draft prospects.
It was during that conversation that Dallas first offered the possibility of his becoming the next head coach.
“And then whenever we were talking about our guys–we had three guys in the lottery–it was mentioned that would I have any interest in this job,” May recalled.
“My eyes went up, and instantly I said, ‘This one checks all the boxes.’ I said, there’s certain criteria for any job that we coaches have. Mine has always been a little bit different, but this job checks all of them.”
May also said that the Mavericks themselves played a significant role in his decision:
“It started with the people in the building, the people that I’m going to be working with every single day. To feel like you’re aligned, you’re inspired by them, all those things are extremely important.”
Dusty May Begins New Chapter In NBA
May lead Michigan to their second national championship under his leadership. The first time the team won the national championship was in 1998. In the same conference, he also spoke about veteran point guard Kyrie Irving.
“Kyrie [Irving] knows what it takes to win a championship so as a first time NBA coach I’m going to lean on him… he’s one of the greatest point guards to ever play our game, he’s a jazz musician,” he said.
May is now preparing for an entirely new challenge; he is leading one of the NBA’s most recognizable franchises with hopes of returning the Mavericks to championship contention.
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