What brings the international Mavs together? They know what it takes to win, coach Dusty May says

A winning culture comes before actually winning. Good coaches and winning players know this, and new Dallas Mavericks head coach Dusty May just made sure to emphasize how that’s exactly what they are building in Dallas right now.

“We’re not having to teach all of these guys how to win and what it takes, they’re already well-versed,” he said last week in an interview with Dallas radio station 105.3 the Fan.

Advertisement

Looking at the current NBA Champions, the New York Knicks, we see one of the greatest examples of the power of a winning culture in recent history. The Knicks don’t have superstars. They don’t have an NBA MVP or the scoring leader. The Knicks have a well-built team, a strong leader in Jalen Brunson, who was brought up in the team-oriented culture of Villanova. He knows how to make a team work together and take the lead when needed, and a team with a very firm winning culture.

The interesting part of this, with Dallas glasses on, is that this specific mental aspect of basketball, which is just as important as individual skillset – a winning culture – has clearly been a priority by Dallas Mavericks president and GM Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz since they took over.

We see that in who they drafted this summer, who they acquired, and who they kept on the roster.

Here’s Dusty May again:

Advertisement

“Sass (Marcus Sasser) coming from the Houston program out of college and the Pistons last year, coming from a winning organization. He’s used to winning.”

May highlights the new players as more than capable of helping to (re)establish that culture in Dallas.

“That’s the majority of our roster, especially the newly acquired players. You look at Tarik (Biberovic), going to the EuroLeague finals. Morez (Johnson Jr.) winning a championship.”

IOWA CITY, IA – MARCH 5: Forward Morez Johnson Jr. #21 of the Michigan Wolverines shares a moment with head coach Dusty May following the match-up against the Iowa Hawkeyes on March 5, 2026 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) | Getty Images

“Zacch (Risacher) with an Atlanta Hawks team that had the Knicks down in the playoffs,…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/brings-international-mavs-together-know-132035157.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-09-11 13:20:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.