A 'Perfect Storm' Led Dusty May Away From Michigan Basketball to the Mavericks

Dusty May appeared on 'Defend the Block' and he spoke about his exit from the Wolverines.

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Dusty May recently came back to Ann Arbor to undergo a hip procedure, something he has been discussing for two years now. With being the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, he needed something done in order to coach a long 82-plus game season.

With May back in Ann Arbor, he sat down with Brian Boesch on the Defend the Block to discuss his exit from Michigan.

Following Michigan winning the national title, he knew the Mavericks wanted to speak with him and other candidates for the job. Things quickly picked up and May had to make a decision. He told Boesch that he doesn't like to make impulsive decisions, but this might've been a more impulsive decision than he normally would make.

Why? May has always wanted to coach in the NBA and with the leadership in Dallas, plus the young core that the Mavericks have, he felt like this was his chance.

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“Well, it was incredibly difficult for me, especially for Hannah and our family," May told Boesch. "I've always maintained a strong process of thinking things out well in advance. Obviously, if anyone knows me, they've always known I've been fatuated with the NBA.

"When I was young, I always said I wanted to finish up in the Euroleague somewhere and coach and just to learn and grow and meet different people and different cultures and whatever the case. But this one was a couple of years ahead of schedule, and when I just started thinking about all that's happening now, and as far as not knowing what tomorrow looks like, not knowing what a year from now looks like, and we're all wired differently. I'm someone that security and planning is very important.

“...Dallas checked a lot of those boxes when you factor in the leadership... and then Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving and a strong core of guys. If we can get healthy, we feel like we have a group to grow with. We have a young team, a team that if you take a few guys away might be a little bit older, then might be even younger than our Michigan team last year at a few spots. So it just made sense and I try not to make impulsive decisions, but this one is a little more impulsive than I typically make them.”

It was a perfect storm

Dusty May doesn't like to live in hypothetical moments, however, if Michigan didn't make the run it made in the NCAA Tournament, it's possible May is game-planning for his first game as the Wolverines' head coach later in 2026.

But Michigan reached the pinnacle of the college basketball landscape under May and with how the landscape is drastically changing, a perfect storm allowed for May to land his first NBA job.

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“Yeah, and timing is everything, obviously," said May. "Even talking to people that I love and respect and trust, they all share the same sentiment that this one is going to, that one is a tough one to turn down, or that one makes sense for all the reasons. If you're okay never getting another one, and I thought I'd have an opportunity to get one of these at some point, assuming we continue to win, or at least close to the level we've been winning.

"But I didn't know if you'd be able to get it in an estate that's growing like Texas that has the quality of life that they have, all the other factors as far as an organization that's committed to winning, an owner that is approachable and affable, as I can imagine any would be in professional sports. So yeah, I would say perfect storm is a great way to describe it.”

May's exit from Michigan came as a surprise to a lot of people, heck, I wrote a column on how May wasn't going to leave the Wolverines, basing off of how highly he spoke about what was next in his Michigan career, but when a coveted job comes calling, you don't say no.

May's short tenure is over at Michigan, but he will forever be remembered as the coach who quickly brought the Wolverines out of the quicksand, following an eight-win season under Juwan Howard, and helped Michigan win a national title.