‘Help The Young Fella Grow’: Dusty May Details How Kyrie Irving Is Mentoring Dallas Mavericks Rookies In His Return
DALLAS — Mavericks coach Dusty May confirmed before Wednesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder that Kyrie Irving will play, then described how Irving has coached the Dallas Mavericks’ young players through their mistakes.
Irving was listed as questionable with left knee injury management on Tuesday’s initial report before Dallas upgraded him to available. He is averaging 19.0 points through three games since returning from the torn ACL that sidelined him for 19 months, and he finished with 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists in Monday’s 113-109 win at the Miami Heat.
Irving has started all 782 games of his NBA career. May said Irving’s day-to-day process is as meticulous as anyone’s in the league.
“Well, first and foremost, how intentional he is with everything that he does. His rehab, his planning, he’s as meticulous as anyone in the NBA as far as their day-to-day processes, as I can imagine, but he’s played well,” May said. “The thing that I’ve been, I use the word blown away a lot, but you don’t know what to expect from these guys. The grace that he’s coached these younger players with has been something that I can’t, I haven’t seen even at the college level.”
Dusty May On Kyrie Irving And Morez Johnson Jr.
May’s example involved rookie Morez Johnson Jr., whom he coached at Michigan before Dallas drafted him ninth overall in June. Johnson had 6 points on 3-of-4 shooting in 15 minutes Monday in Miami.
“In the heat of the battle, players get frustrated with other players, especially when a mistake happens or it looks like it could be their fault. The great example was Morez didn’t complete a pass … at Miami. And Morez is a young guy who’s making his way into the league, obviously has no restrictions and hasn’t practiced much and some of those things that go with it, and immediately as soon as Miami dunked the ball to the other end, he dapped him up and immediately started giving him constructive coaching,” May continued. “And there was no frustration. It was simply about how do we get this fixed for the next time and to help the young fella grow. And so I can list 100 examples of that, and I’m not sure that’s all that common in today’s game, in society.”
Irving and Cooper Flagg combined for 17 of the Mavericks’ 31 assists Monday. In his opening statement after that game, May used the same word to describe both of them.
“It’s a lot of fun when your two superstars are as unselfish as they are, and they show as much grace as they bring along these younger players,” May said Monday. “It’s been fun to be a part of and see it so far.”
Irving’s Preparation In His Return From A Torn ACL
Irving sat out Saturday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the second night of a back-to-back, before playing 32 minutes, 40 seconds in Miami. Two-way guard Walter Clayton Jr., who has been with Dallas for about a week, said Irving’s preparation sets the standard for the roster.
“Just being here for about a week now, man, Kai, the way he prepares, man, it kind of forces everybody to just be on their P’s and their Q’s and just prepare the same way,” Clayton said Monday. “So just being locked in. Just watching them and these guys got a good system going on here. So I feel like I’m just kind of blending that seamlessly.”
Dallas (2-2) hosts the 4-0 Thunder at 8:30 p.m. CT at American Airlines Center.
