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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.
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“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.
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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.”
A sudden shift
May is replacing Jason Kidd, who was let go two weeks after Ujiri was hired. The Mavericks have missed the playoffs the past…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dusty-may-never-imagined-coaching-221956542.html
Author : SCHUYLER DIXON
Publish date : 2026-06-29 22:19:00
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