DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks coach Dusty May said Thursday that he has been part of a couple of workouts with Kyrie Irving this summer and has watched the guard play pickup, on-court work that comes ahead of Irving’s first game action since March 3, 2025.
May was in studio at 105.3 The Fan on “K&C Masterpiece,” hours after the Mavericks named the station their new flagship radio home under a multi-year agreement with Audacy.
Irving tore the ACL in his left knee against the Sacramento Kings and underwent reconstruction surgery later that month. Dallas ruled him out for the entire 2025-26 season in February. The nine-time All-Star turned 34 in March.
Irving’s IQ is the piece May wants passed down to the young core.
“I’ve been a part of a couple workouts with Kyrie,” May said. “I’ve watched him work out on his own and I’ve watched him play pickup, and then I’ve gotten feedback from others that have watched him play recently, and I couldn’t be more excited to be on his team. I’ve been blown away.”
“We all know how talented Kyrie is with the ball in his hands,” May continued. “But to see his level of preparation, attention to detail, and IQ, it’s something that I’ve never seen at the level that he works at. And I can’t wait for him to share that with the rest of our group, especially the young core that we have.”
The Mavericks were 75-53 in games Irving played after his arrival during the 2022-23 season and 42-75 in the games he missed, according to ESPN.
Dusty May On Kyrie Irving Without The Ball
May said Irving is at an age when a player is usually asked to be a locker room presence rather than a producer.
“It’s such a beautiful game because there’s one basketball and there’s five players and you can only have the ball in your hands an exponential amount of time,” May explained. “And so what can you do to make the other players better when it’s not in your hand? How much attention do you garner from the opposition? But the thing with Kyrie, he has a solution for everything.”
“Typically when you’re speaking of a guy like this, you’re talking about someone that’s over the hill and you’re wanting them to be more of a veteran leader and locker room presence,” May added. “When you look at the range of experiences he’s had from college through those championship years on to the Celtics and with us.”
“But for someone to still be able to impact the day-to-day like he does and then also to have the leadership role that he’s going to have, it’s going to prove to be invaluable,” May noted.
Dallas finished 26-56 last season and ranked 27th in offense. Cooper Flagg won Rookie of the Year on April 27 after averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 70 games.
Dallas Mavericks Open Preseason Oct. 9 In Macao
The Mavericks hired May on June 23, the day of the NBA draft, three months after he led Michigan to the national championship. Masai Ujiri was hired as president of basketball operations on May 4 and dismissed Jason Kidd 15 days later.
Dallas opens preseason play Oct. 9 against the Houston Rockets at The Venetian Arena in Macao. The regular-season opener comes Oct. 21 at Houston at 7:30 p.m. CT. The San Antonio Spurs visit American Airlines Center on Oct. 24.
