Congratulations to Jason Kidd!!! It’s official!! He has been named the new head coach of the Brooklyn Nets!
Report after the jump…
Via ESPN:
The Brooklyn Nets have named Jason Kidd their new head coach, the team announced Wednesday night.
The hiring was first reported by ESPN’s Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne. Kidd will be introduced at a 2 p.m. ET news conference Thursday at Barclays Center.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to be named head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, and it’s a role I have been studying for over the course of my playing days,” Kidd said. “Championship teams are built on being prepared, playing unselfishly and being held accountable, and that’s how I expect to coach this basketball team. I am truly excited about this next phase of my basketball career.”
Kidd’s hiring came after the Nets met with Brian Shaw for five hours Wednesday. Sources told ESPN.com that, although Shaw had been targeted by the Nets for some time and made a strong presentation during Wednesday’s interview, Kidd convinced Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and his advisers that he is ready to jump directly into the lead seat on an NBA bench despite the fact that he has no prior coaching experience.
“Jason Kidd has a long and legendary history with the Nets and with the city of New York,” Prokhorov said. “He has the fire in the belly we need, and has achieved as a player everything the Brooklyn Nets are striving to achieve. We believe he will lead us there. Welcome home, Jason.”
The move reunites Kidd with the franchise he led to consecutive NBA Finals in 2002-03, when they played in New Jersey. He spent 6½ seasons with the Nets, averaging 14.6 points, 9.1 assists and 7.2 rebounds, and is their career leader in numerous statistical categories.
ESPN.com reported Monday that Kidd, in a sitdown Monday with Nets general manager Billy King, sold Brooklyn on the idea that the presence of former Nets and Detroit Pistons head coach Lawrence Frank can provide him with a lead assistant who can help Kidd compensate for his own lack of head-coaching experience.
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