‘Just An Open Book’: Daniel Gafford Says Dusty May Cleared Him To Shoot Late-Clock 3-Pointers For Dallas Mavericks
DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks coach Dusty May has cleared center Daniel Gafford to take one or two 3-pointers late in the shot clock, Gafford said Thursday on 105.3 The Fan’s K&C Masterpiece.
The two talked about it Wednesday night, the night of Dallas’ 112-111 loss at the San Antonio Spurs.
Gafford made the first 3-pointer of his career on Oct. 28 in a 120-96 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was the second 3-point attempt of his NBA career. The only other one came in 2021-22, when he played for the Washington Wizards. He finished the Oklahoma City game with 7 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks on 3-of-4 shooting.
Daniel Gafford Says His 3-Point Shot Is Still About Confidence
In the three games since, Gafford has not attempted another 3-pointer. The shot comes and goes for him, and he is not sure what made the one against Oklahoma City feel the way it did.
“I’m still working out the kinks of just, like, the confidence side of that,” Gafford said. “The one shot that I took the other night, that probably has been the best I’ve felt in any game that I’ve played. And it’s just, I don’t know what it was. Sometimes it’s on and sometimes it’s off.”
“But I had a conversation with Dusty last night about just shooting one or two, kind of like at the end of the shot clock,” Gafford continued. “It was something that was, that of course was lingering, but it’s like if I’m gonna try to make an impact anywhere on the floor, I gotta, I gotta be at least knock one or two down.”
Through 8 starts, Gafford is averaging 9.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.9 blocks while shooting 67.4% from the field. He went 1-of-6 with 2 points Wednesday in San Antonio.
Gafford On Playing For Dusty May
May took over in June after two seasons at Michigan, where he went 64-13 and won the 2026 national championship. He led Florida Atlantic to the Final Four in 2023. Dallas is 4-4 in his first season as an NBA head coach.
May told Gafford he could step into those shots, Gafford said.
“He did. He did. That’s what I love about him as a coach, man,” Gafford explained. “He’s just an open book. You can walk up to him and you can pretty much talk to him about anything as long as you’re respectful and you believe in yourself as much as he believes in you.”
“Because he’s going to look you dead in your face and tell you whether it’s something that you need to do or something that you can’t do,” Gafford added. “But it’s just how he, I would say, delivers it. And it just makes you feel like maybe he’s right.”
It had been a while since Gafford played for a coach with May’s style. May holds him accountable every night, Gafford said.
“He’s a great guy. That’s just Coach Dusty, man. I love him to death,” Gafford said. “And it’s been a minute since I’ve kind of like experienced just any type of, the type of coaching that he has. He’s so energetic, he emphasizes everything. And one thing he’s going to do is just like hold guys accountable. And I just, I love that because night in, night out, he’s always holding me accountable.”
“At the same time as he’s holding you accountable, he’s literally speaking life into you at the same time too,” Gafford noted. “And it’s just, being in the NBA and just seeing the type of guy that he is, he’s going to have a real good career when it comes to a lot of players in this league.”
Dallas hosts the Utah Jazz in an NBA Cup group-stage game Friday at American Airlines Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT.
