On the day the Dallas Mavericks hired Dusty May to become their head coach last month, he received a congratulatory text from former Plano East High School All-American shooting guard Jimmy King.
King said he keeps in touch with May, so he wanted to reach out and let him know he gave the move to the Mavs his full approval.
“The day he got the job I texted him and congratulated him, and he hit me back,” King told Mavs.com. “I told him welcome to Dallas and I’ll be at the games.”
Like May, King has very close and influential ties to the University of Michigan. King played for Michigan from 1991-95 and helped the Wolverines reach the NCAA championship game in 1992 and ’93.
May, meanwhile, coached the Wolverines the past two seasons and helped them capture a national title less than four months ago. And May's unique ability to listen to and take input from his players is one of the reasons King believes he'll be a success at the NBA level.
“Obviously, I think he’s a great coach,” King said. “I think he’s one of the great basketball minds that gets his teams to play at a high level and execute and buy into his system and what he’s doing.
“Coming from Florida and coming to Michigan in just a short amount of time in a couple of years and delivering a national championship -- the school only had one prior – is a testament to how he is able to build a program and put a program together and get the best out of his players. From what I’ve seen, I expect him to do the same there in Dallas, and pretty quickly.”
The Mavs acquired King in a trade with the Toronto Raptors on July 24, 1996 for Popeye Jones. But he never played a regular season game for the Mavs, who waived him on Oct. 29, 1996 – three days before the regular season started.
King, whose pro basketball career lasted from 1995-2005, spoke exclusively to Mavs.com on a wide range of issues. The following is a portion of that conversation with King, who will turn 53 years old on Aug. 9.
QUESTION: You grew up a fan of the Mavs and were named Texas Mr. Basketball in 1991 while playing for Plano East High School. What is it about first-year Mavs coach Dusty May that has you overly excited about him possibly getting your hometown team back on the NBA mountaintop?
KING: “I think he is one of the few coaches that is not rigid in his coaching style. He doesn’t have the ego where it’s my way or the highway, because that’s a quick way to get out of the league in dealing with superstars that have relied on what they know. They’re going to stick to what they know and they’re going to have to buy into what it is that he’s selling. And I think that Dusty is masterful at that. I think he’ll do a great job. I think he’ll slide right in and actually take them to a different level.”
Q: There were three players selected in the Top 12 of last month’s NBA Draft who played for Dusty May at Michigan. Morez Johnson Jr. was drafted ninth by the Mavs, Yaxel Lendeborg went 11th to the Golden State Warriors and Aday Mara went 12th to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Obviously, May had the privilege of watching all three players during his practice sessions and games, but why do you think the Mavs chose Johnson over Lendeborg and Mara?
KING: “I like Morez. I think he has the biggest upside and I think that’s why he was picked before Yaxel and Mara – if you were just looking to take one of your (Michigan) guys. Also, I think (Johnson) fits in (the Mavs’) system and their style of play and what they’re looking for. Not that Yaxel and Mara wouldn’t. But I think that (Johnson) will be a better fit for that system than any other player. And conversely the same thing if we were to switch Morez with Yaxel at Golden State, I think the fit out there for Morez would be not as good. I think Yaxel is in a perfect place for his skill set. But (Lendeborg and Mara) went to two great organizations. Golden State and OKC are two of the best in the league. They’ll be fine.”
Q: In addition to Dusty May and Morez Johnson Jr. joining the Mavs, former Michigan guard Jett Howard signed a two-way contract earlier this month with the Texas Legends – the Mavs’ G League team. Howard played the 2022-23 season at Michigan for his dad, Juwan Howard, who was your teammate with the Wolverines from 1991-’93. Jett Howard spent the past three seasons with the Orlando Magic, who drafted him No. 11 overall in 2023. What do you like about Jett Howard joining May and Johnson in Dallas?
King: “We just call it the Dallas Wolverines. I love that move. I’m going to come see nephew (Howard) play and support him and it’s going to be exciting. I love to see his dad come, too. He was my roommate and teammate (at Michigan). And his mom. Juwan played a couple of stints in Dallas (during the 2001-02 and 2007-08 seasons). It’s just going to be a reunion.”
Q: After being a McDonald’s All-American in 1991, you became part of one of the most talented and talked about college basketball teams ever assembled. You, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard and Ray Jackson all signed scholarships with Michigan out of high school and became known as the Fab 5. Did y’all get together beforehand and decide y’all were going to play for Michigan?
King: “It wasn’t like today where it’s like, ‘Oh, you want to play together? Ok, cool. Let’s get a super team or get two or three players and we’ll just build a team that way.’ It was more like I just wanted to play with good players and be a part of a good program. If it happens that other players come and they try to do the same things I do and want the same things I want, that’s how the Fab 5 started. The only people that I guess could have planned -- or did plan it -- was Chris and Jalen, because they grew up together and they played AAU basketball since they were 11 years old. And they were the last two to sign. Juwan signed first and he basically recruited the rest of us. But it wasn’t like we’re going to come together and be a super team. Juwan did that individually by himself. He called us separately. It wasn’t like we were on a conference call or anything like that. It was just naturally organic. Juwan signed first, I signed second and Ray signed third. And we all signed within the same week during the early signing period. And then Chris and Jalen signed in February or March. That’s the reason Chris wore No. 4 and Jalen wore No. 5, because they were the fourth and fifth to sign.”
Q: The Toronto Raptors drafted you in the second round – the 35th overall selection – during their expansion season in 1995. What was it like to be able to live out your dream and get drafted to play in the NBA?
King: “It was fun. Damon Stoudamire was the Raptors’ first pick that year, and I was their second pick. We were living the dream, playing in the league, playing against Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller, Karl Malone. It was awesome.”
Q: In 1998, you were the Most Valuable Player in the Continental Basketball Association after winning the CBA championship with the Quad City Thunder. In 1998, you also helped the US National Team win a bronze medal in the FIBA World Championship. During your 10-year pro basketball career, what’s the difference in the players when you played and the players today?
King: “The players in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s had individual identities and games. Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) had a sky hook, Magic (Johnson) was unique in the way he played, Isiah (Thomas) was unique in the way he played. Today, everybody comes down and they play on the perimeter, they shoot threes. Nobody really plays with their back to the basket. There’s no signature move is what I’m getting at. I think the game back in the day was a little more deliberate. Now it’s just getting downhill, a couple of dribbles between your legs, get to the basket, and you get there and then you kick it out for a three.”
Q: Why do you think only a handful of college coaches have had moderate success as NBA head coaches, and can Dusty May buck that trend?
King: “I think it takes a special coach to be able to coach on both levels, because they’re two different animals. It’s two different styles of play. The college floors are a little bit smaller in a sense that in college they’re apt to play more zone, and the guys overall aren’t as talented as the guys in the league. We’ve seen this a billion times where we saw college coaches transition to the pros and not be successful even though they were great in college. Some (college) coaches aren’t able to do that because they’re more hands-on -- a little bit more rigid. I think Dusty has the talent to transition. I think that’s why he was flagged by the Mavericks.”
X: @DwainPrice