Lakers Rumors: Analyzing Jason Kidd as a head coach
By Ronald Agers
The unprofessional way Jason Kidd landed the Brooklyn Nets job!
The one thing that will be constant through this history lesson is that when it’s time for Jason Kidd to leave a franchise, there is usually a huge mess left behind with the franchise holding the bag.
We’ll start in his 19th and last year in the NBA (We could go back further but it would take too long). After agreeing to a deal with the Dallas Mavericks, Kidd changed his mind and signed with the New York Knicks. At the time, he was brought in to be a veteran presence to Jeremy Lin and it was reported that Lin was on the move to the Rockets over salary concerns.
By playoff time, Kidd offered little production for the Knicks, which led to only 11 minutes total in his last two games in the Knicks second-round loss to Indiana. New York had a good reason, as J-Kidd missed his last 18 shots. Kidd then surprised the Knicks by retiring, leaving money on the table.
His thoughts on retirement, according to ESPN.
"“I think it is the right time,” Kidd told ESPNNewYork.com. “When you think about 19 years, it has been a heckuva ride. Physically, I want to be able to participate in activities with my kids so it has taken a toll. It is time to move on and think about maybe coaching or doing some broadcasting."
Ten days later, Jason Kidd gets the Brooklyn Nets job over a candidate that Lakers should know quite well in Brian Shaw. Now, remember, he backed out of a deal with the Mavericks for a potential starting job in New York. When that dream went away, he started looking for an out.
Now for the Brooklyn Nets. They were looking for the same big name splash blueprint that the Lakers are using now. They had just moved across the pond from New Jersey into a beautiful new arena in Brooklyn. They traded basically everything but the kitchen sink in players and future draft picks (Does this practice sound familiar?) for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry.
Big names, big excitement and behinds in the seats of a new arena. With a 44-38 record and a second-round push in the playoffs, the bottom fell out.