Rick Carlisle didn’t wait long to size up Dusty May, and he came away impressed.
Before the Mavericks faced the Pacers on Friday night, the former Dallas coach - who led the franchise to its only NBA championship in 2011 - had plenty of praise for the new man running the show in Dallas. Carlisle, now on Indiana’s bench after leaving the Mavericks in 2021, spoke highly of May even without the benefit of an NBA resume.
"The lessons go on, even when you get a quarter century into it. I could tell you that.
Dusty's an amazing coach. One of the best coaches in the world," Carlisle said, according to The Dallas Morning News' Mike Curtis.
"He proved that last year. He's gonna mold this team into a team that has the identity of his Michigan teams, I think.
I see a lot of similarities."
Carlisle continued by pointing to the style he expects from May’s teams. "They're disruptive.
They're long. They're athletic.
They play free," Carlisle added. "He really empowers his best players.
They're gonna be very good."
Dallas just made one of the boldest hires of the offseason by bringing in May from Michigan after moving on from Jason Kidd following a second straight season without a playoff appearance. The Mavericks also had brought in Masai Ujiri before making the coaching change, and they ultimately went in a direction few saw coming.
May has already given the franchise something to build on early, even if the sample size is tiny. The Mavericks improved to 2-2 under him after beating Indiana 121-105 at home.
Dallas jumped all over the Pacers from the opening stretch, building a 34-point halftime lead. Indiana did claw back with a better second half, but it never got the margin into single digits.
For May, the NBA leap comes without prior pro coaching or playing experience, but his track record at the college level is loud. Florida Atlantic hired him in 2018 for his first head-coaching job, and he never posted a losing season in six years with the Owls. That run included a 35-4 season and a Final Four trip in 2023, one of the most memorable March Madness stretches in recent memory.
Across eight years as a head coach, May owns a 190-82 record. Over the last four seasons, he has gone 124-26, won four tournament bids, made two Final Fours and captured a championship.
Dallas is banking on that kind of winning carrying over, even if patience is going to be part of the equation. The Mavericks are back in action Wednesday, October 28, against the banged-up Oklahoma City Thunder.
Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
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