DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks coach Dusty May said Friday he has no idea what his team’s win total will be, but that the Mavericks will work like crazy to chase a championship and hang a banner. May spoke at the team’s media day at American Airlines Center, the day before his first NBA training camp opens.
May coached Michigan to the 2026 national championship and a 37-3 record before Dallas hired him in June. He took Florida Atlantic to the Final Four in 2023. The Mavericks went 26-56 last season.
May described the season as building in the short term and the long term, and he acknowledged that sometimes a team has to take a step back to move forward. Questions about where Dallas stands, he said, will be answered once the Mavericks compete against the rest of the league.
“I think we have a good basketball team. We’re going to be every day building in the short term and long term. And sometimes you have to take a step back to take a couple steps forward,” May said. “And so I think all those questions will be answered in real time after we’ve seen us compete against the other teams, the best teams in the league, the middle-back teams, whatever the case.”
“But I think we have a team that’s going to compete. I think we have a team that’s going to be extremely connected,” May continued. “And when our fans leave the building, they’re going to be bigger fans because of how relatable or how they interact with each other. We talk about communication. The nonverbal communication amongst the guys on the court is going to be much improved. But as far as a win total, anything like that, I have no idea. I don’t know the league well enough. I know that we’re going to work like crazy to chase a championship and hang a banner in our building.”
Dusty May On The Keys To Winning
The keys to winning are the same at every level, May noted, from high school to the NBA. He named the length of the season as his biggest adjustment.
“The keys to winning are the same at every level. High school, college, NBA,” May explained. “It’s getting a group to play, to punch above their weight, to play better than they actually are as individuals together as a group, to be able to go through the marathon of a season. And that would be the biggest adjustment for myself, just the amount of games and mental preparation and stamina that it’s going to take. But as far as one game or seven-game series, you get better shots, you win in the margins, and you do it with great people.”
The team’s non-negotiables will be laid out in a meeting Friday night, according to May. He kept them in-house but noted they have been well received so far.
“The non-negotiables, those are things that we’ll lay out in our team meeting tonight. Things like that, I’d rather just keep them in-house,” May said. “But we have a couple things that we live by, and they’ve been well-received up to this point.”
Dusty May On The Home Opener
Dallas hosts the San Antonio Spurs, the defending Western Conference champions, in the home opener Oct. 24. May described himself as big on visualization and said he has already pictured himself on that sideline after attending games at American Airlines Center over the years.
“Last year we played in probably eight NBA arenas, including we played in the Garden every year. So I’ve been in that environment, not at the level obviously,” May said. “But I’m also someone that’s big on visualization. So the first time I walked out, I pictured myself, and I’ve been to several games here. I coached one of the former Mavs, and I used to come over when I went to Louisiana and watch a couple games a year. So I’ve seen several games. I felt the energy, I felt the enthusiasm that this place has, but I’ve tried to visualize myself.”
Once the ball goes up, May explained, his attention stays locked on the court and his bench for all 48 minutes. He said he has heard secondhand about the comments from behind the bench but never live.
“But I have a really unique ability to, once the game starts, for 48 minutes I have 100%, my focus is on the court and our bench,” May continued. “So literally you can stand behind me and … I’ve heard secondhand of all the comments, but I’ve never heard them live. And so I think that I’ll just resort back to my normal habits of being completely focused on where my attention needs to be.”
Dallas plays the Houston Rockets at The Venetian Arena in Macao on Oct. 9 and Oct. 11. The regular season opens Oct. 21 at Houston, with tip-off at 7:30 p.m. CT.
