Everyone was surprised the Brooklyn Nets hired Jason Kidd as their new head coach less than 10 days after his retirement from basketball and from their rival team the New York Knicks. While many think the Nets reached out to Kidd to make it happen it turns out it was the other way around.
It was Kidd who reached out through his agent to Nets’ brass to see if there might be an opportunity, and initially, there wasn’t. Nets GM Billy King, speaking during the TNT telecast to David Aldridge during Brooklyn’s preseason win over the Heat on Thursday, explained the details of how it all went down, and revealed some of the qualities in Kidd that impressed him enough to give the first-time head coach a shot.
David Aldridge: He really kind of recruited you as opposed to the other way around right? Billy King: [nods head in agreement] He did, he did, and you know his agent Jeff Schwartz reached out, and originally I said “No.” I said “No, there’s no way.” Ownership said it, I said “No way.” And then they said ??? Just meet with him,” and I did, and I’m glad I did.
As the season draws near we’ll see whether the decision was a good one or not, especially since the coaching pool was especially good this offseason. Coaches like George Karl, Lionel Hollins and new head coach Brian Shaw were all on the market when the Nets chose to go with Kidd. Hopefully for them it works out; it would be an interesting new chapter as one of the best players in Nets’ history does well as their coach too.
