Mark Cuban Weighs In on Dusty May Signing HC Contract to Replace Jason Kidd amid Cooper Flagg Rumors

The Dallas Mavericks' decision to hire Michigan's Dusty May to replace Jason Kidd as head coach received approval from minority owner Mark Cuban.

"He is an Indiana grad. I met him way back when he worked as a student manager and video coach," Cuban said of May while speaking to Mike Curtis of the Dallas Morning News. "I'm sure he will do a great job."

Basketball insider Jeff Goodman reported that a source said one of the reasons May chose to leave Michigan for the Mavs was "the chance to coach Cooper Flagg."

After being selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft, Flagg exceeded expectations as he led Dallas with 21.0 points per game while adding 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals on his way to earning Rookie of the Year honors. Despite his individual brilliance, the Mavs finished with a 26-56 record, leading to major changes this offseason.

After Masai Ujiri was hired as president of basketball operations, one of his first moves in Dallas was to fire Kidd, who had coached the team since 2021. After a month-long search, the Mavs tabbed May to take over and lead the team into the future. He's now the first college head coach to take an NBA job since former Michigan coach John Beilein was hired by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019.

May coached Michigan to a 64-13 record over two seasons and led the team to the 2026 national championship. Per ESPN's Pete Thamel, Adam Schefter and Shams Charania, he had "ruled out other college jobs this offseason, but the NBA has always been intriguing" to him.

May will now be tasked with leading the development of Flagg and the rest of the Mavs' young players. Dallas will have the No. 9 pick in Tuesday's NBA draft, and B/R's Jonathan Wasserman predicted that they would select Houston point guard Kingston Flemings.

The Mavs are undoubtedly hoping that May will be able to have the same impact that he had during his brief time at Michigan.