Jason Kidd can’t say what he said, but the Dallas Mavericks aren’t good enough
Jason Kidd wasn’t being literal when he said, “I’m just watching, just like you guys,” but he shouldn’t have said it.
No head NBA coach can infer he’s a glorified spectator, even if that’s exactly what many of them are.
Kidd made his now-viral comments following the Dallas Mavericks’ home loss on Sunday against the L.A. Lakers, and he’s becoming a favorite to kick around for Mavericks fans who want someone to blame for what is an average team.
J-Kidd was a welcomed hire after the Mavs and coach Rick Carlisle agreed to move on from the other after the 2021 NBA playoffs.
He still is. Because he hasn’t lost Luka.
When Luka Doncic decides J-Kidd is a bad head coach, that is when Jason Kidd is a bad head coach.
That’s the NBA.
Avery Johnson was a great head coach for the Mavs until Dirk Nowitzki decided otherwise. That was in 2008.
Since then we’ve had Rick Carlisle, and Jason Kidd.
Like any head coach Kidd had his share of “Wait, he did what?” moments this season, but he’s not this team’s issue.
He could afford to be a little more creative on offense. He’s had some late decisions that make you wonder.
He coached the Mavs to the Western Conference finals last season, but this team is not that team.
They’re not as good.
The issue is the issue. This is a decent team built to out-score opponents and they don’t have the roster to do it.
And this team’s inability to guard a senior-citizen rec’ league team will eventually catch them in the playoffs, if they actually make the playoffs.
The Mavs are 3-5 since trading for Kyrie Irving, including a 2-point loss at home on Tuesday night to Carlisle and the Indiana Pacers. You can’t lose at home to the Pacers.
This is one game after the Mavs blew a 27-point lead at home in a loss to a bad L.A. Lakers team; NBA teams were 138-0 when ahead by that much of margin this season.
Three of the losses in this stink ride have been by three points or less, and another came in overtime.
Luka and Kyrie haven’t figured out how to play with each other yet.
This is Kyrie we’re talking about.
Luka and Kyrie may figure this thing out.
They may not.
If this doesn’t work, it won’t be Luka’s fault.
Also, it won’t be Kyrie’s fault, either.
(BTW: Despite playing around All-Star caliber players at his previous two teams, the last time he reached the NBA Finals was 2017, when he and LeBron James were popped by the Golden State Warriors.)
The Mavs are currently 32-31, four wins back of Sacramento for third place in the West, and two wins ahead of 10th-place New Orleans.
This isn’t entirely on the head coach. This is his roster, which is not as good as it was last season.
The offseason addition of forward Christian Wood isn’t going how the Mavs hoped. It is going exactly the way his former teams could have projected.
Letting Jalen Brunson walk to New York was a bad idea. Not Steve Nash-level bad, but bad.
Brunson is a winner, and he was the perfect teammate for Doncic.
Losing Dorian Finney-Smith to the Nets in the Kyrie trade hurts more than anyone on that team will admit. The same for Spencer Dinwiddie.
Now they have a roster that has one good defender, Maxi Kleber, two All-Stars, and decent guys who are ish scorers.
Kidd isn’t perfect, but this is what he’s got to work with.
You will notice that the most successful coach in the history of the NBA is actually just another coach.
Since the start of the 2019-’20 season, San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich is 114-173 with no winning seasons. The Spurs currently have the second fewest wins this season, 15.
Pop is no dummy. He knows Tim Duncan made him.
That’s the NBA.
“As a team, we’ve got to mature. We’ve got to grow up if we want to win a championship,” Kidd said after that loss to the Lakers.
Luka agreed.
As long as that’s the case, Jason Kidd’s status with the Mavs is good.
He can be better, but “head coach” isn’t the Mavs’ issue.
He doesn’t have a championship team, and he knows it.
And that’s one thing he better keep to himself.
This story was originally published March 1, 2023 at 4:17 PM.
