The Ego Of Jason Kidd Has Gotten The Best Of Him

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Jason Kidd

Jason Kidd

In 1994, the Dallas Mavericks made point guard Jason Kidd the second pick of the NBA Draft. Kidd would go on in 1995 to be named as the NBA’s Co-Rookie of the Year. The future looked bright for Kidd with the Mavericks until he was traded to the Phoenix Suns in 1996. Kidd would become the face of the Suns franchise as he would lead the NBA in assists for three consecutive seasons there. But a domestic violence incident during the 2000-2001 NBA season was the beginning of the end for Kidd in Phoenix. Following that season Kidd was traded to the New Jersey Nets and it appeared to be a marriage made in basketball heaven.

Kidd joined a Nets team that had not won a playoff series since 1984 and in his first season there, he led the team to the NBA Finals. The Nets would once again make the NBA Finals in 2003 and in each of Kidd’s six full seasons in New Jersey, the team would make the playoffs.

In 2008 Kidd demanded to be traded by the Nets and he once again found himself with the Mavericks. Kidd would help the Mavericks win the NBA Championship in 2011 before finishing his NBA playing career in 2013 with the New York Knicks.

Following the 2012-2013 NBA season, the now Brooklyn Nets were in search for a head coach and without any prior coaching experience under his belt, Kidd reached out to his former employer. In a surprise move the Nets gave Kidd the opportunity to become their head coach.

Kidd was dealt a hard task with the Nets as he was responsible for dealing with a diva point guard in Deron Williams while also managing the minutes of aging stars in small forward Paul Pierce and power forward Kevin Garnett. Under Kidd, the Nets finished the regular season with a record 44-38 and they won their first playoff series since 2007. Kidd appeared to be building something in Brooklyn, but he just pulled the rug out from under everyone.

Reports began to surface late last week that Kidd was negotiating with the Milwaukee Bucks to become their head coach. Kidd reportedly went to Nets owner Mikhail Prokohrov seeking control in personnel moves. If Prokohrov had agreed to it Kidd would have had more power than current Nets general manager Billy King. Prokohrov didn’t and thus Kidd set his sights on the Bucks. But this wasn’t the first instance of Kidd’s ego getting the best of him.

Brooklyn NetsWhen the Nets acquired Kidd from the Suns in 2001 they were taking a chance on a player that needed to resurrect his NBA career. Along with former Nets head coach Byron Scott, Kidd helped the Nets make consecutive trips to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. But in 2004 Scott was fired by the Nets with all signs pointing to Kidd. Kidd finished his Nets playing career with Lawrence Frank as the team’s head coach. When Kidd took over last year as the Nets head coach, he went to Prokohrov and King to lobby to bring in Frank as an assistant coach. The Nets would hire Frank and make him the highest paid assistant coach in the NBA. But by last December, Kidd would demote Frank to the point that he was no longer seen on the Nets bench. In spite of this Prokohrov and King stood behind Kidd. But when the “crybaby” Kidd couldn’t get his way this time around, he decided to pout and pack his bags for Milwaukee.

Behind Julius Erving, Kidd is the second most important player in Nets franchise history. Kidd recently had his jersey number retired by the Nets. And when rap mogul Jay-Z sold his ownership stake in the Nets last year in order to pursue a career as a sports agent, it was Kidd who purchased the ownership stake. The Nets brought Kidd to the dance, but he broke the unwritten rule because he left with somebody else.

Kidd’s immaturity and diva like attitude is exactly why teams don’t hire ex-players fresh off of a playing career to become head coaches. Typically former players will have an apprenticeship of a few years while biting their teeth as assistant coaches before they can learn the ropes. Kidd never did that and he found out the hard way that he is not as powerful as he thinks that he is. In spite of what Kidd was able to do on the basketball court, head coaches are a dime a dozen and unless your name is Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, Doc Rivers, or Pat Riley, there is only so much say that you’re going to have in personnel decisions.

Being that Kidd was under contract with the Nets for three more seasons, the Bucks must compensate his former employer. The Bucks will reportedly send a 2015 second-round pick along with a 2019 second-round pick to the Nets for snatching up Kidd.

Kidd leaves behind a Nets team that can compete for a playoff spot in favor of a Bucks team that is expected to once again be a bottom feeder in the Eastern Conference. With former NBA head coaches such as George Karl, Mark Jackson, and Lionel Hollins available, the Nets could come away from this situation smelling like a rose. Kidd was looking to pull of a shrewd move, but in this world you never bite that hand that feeds you. Kidd was so revered at the Barclays Center that the Nets would have placed rose petals at his feet. Instead, Kidd will be lucky if he receives a Metrocard on his way out of town.

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