DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks coach Dusty May said Thursday that Dallas has been stressing physicality since his first day with the team, and he named the New York Knicks as the reference point.
May was in studio at 105.3 The Fan on “K&C Masterpiece,” hours after the Mavericks announced a multi-year partnership making the station their flagship.
Physicality is the non-negotiable in May’s read of what a championship organization requires.
“I don’t think you can be a championship-caliber program organization if you don’t play with the level of physicality and force that the game requires,” May said. “I mean, when you look at the Knicks last year, their veteran leadership and the physical maturity that they have in their locker room, and you know, you’re not going to win a championship unless you have it. And so we’re starting from day one, stressing that level of intensity and physicality that the game requires to play at a championship level.”
Dallas finished 26-56 last season, a 13-game decline and the franchise’s worst record since 2017-18. The Mavericks ranked 27th in offense.
Dusty May Brought The Brand From Michigan
May coached Michigan to a 34-3 record and the 2026 national championship, beating UConn 69-63 on April 6 for the program’s first title since 1989. He went 64-13 in two seasons in Ann Arbor with two Big Ten titles.
Before Michigan, May took Florida Atlantic to the 2023 Final Four. He began as an assistant at Murray State in 2005-06 and later worked at UAB, Louisiana Tech, and Florida.
The Mavericks hired him June 23, the day of the NBA draft. He is 49.
Dusty May On Winning Without Playing Well
May said there was a stretch last season when Michigan kept winning comfortably and he treated the wins as losses, which put him at odds with his staff.
“By nature, I just look at the positive of whatever happened,” May explained. “If we did lose, it will certainly be easier to refocus and get back to working with the same edge we had before the loss. But I know there was a period last season where we weren’t playing well and we were still winning comfortably. And I was at ends with the staff because I was very disappointed. I was almost treating them as losses.”
“And their point to me was, Coach, we are winning and that’s the objective. And this is supposed to be fun,” May added. “And my point was I don’t think I can ever be the type of coach where if we’re not playing anywhere near our potential, we’re not playing with the passion and energy that it’s required, I’m not going to feel good about the win because we have more talent than the other team. We have to make sure that we capitalize on all of our talent and abilities.”
“And so we battled through that stretch, but we just treat every game as, if we play well, then we feel much, much better than just finding a way to win, even when we don’t perform our best,” May noted.
Cooper Flagg won Rookie of the Year on April 27. Kyrie Irving missed all of last season after ACL surgery and is expected back for 2026-27.
Dallas opens the regular season Oct. 21 at Houston at 7:30 p.m. CT.
