After the Brooklyn Nets horrible 10-21 start last season, then Nets head coach Jason Kidd was reportedly in real danger of losing his job. After their all-star center Brook Lopez went down with an injury and Kidd started to rely on a small-ball lineup though, Brooklyn went on rallying into the playoffs. Kidd was doing a better job at coaching the team and the Nets reached the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs only to be bounced back into elimination by the Miami Heat.
Now Kidd is with a young but talented Milwaukee Bucks squad who have far greater upside than his former Nets team. And it could be easily argued that Kidd is in a far better situation with the Bucks than he was with Brooklyn. He gets to mentor a young Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo instead of a declining Deron Williams and retiring Kevin Garnett.
"Jabari is a special player, the ball finds him," Kidd was saying Monday, before his Bucks beat the Knicks, 120-107, in the preseason wrap-up per New York Daily News. "I don't want to say it's easier. We're a long team, we can go small, we can go long. But it's the same offense (as in Brooklyn). Share the ball. Take the shot when it presents itself."
As Sports Illusatrated mentioned in its report, the Nets brought in a couple of veteran leaders like Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and gave Jason Kidd the coaching duties with the hopes of giving the franchise an NBA title. Now, Garnett is the only one left on the team with Pierce signing a two-year deal with the Washington Wizards in the offseason.
With the Bucks, Kidd doesn't have to do much. All he needs to do is see to it that their development is on the fast track and share all the experiences and necessary insights that he had in his hall-of-fame career with the NBA.
Kidd is one of the youngest coaches in the league and has yet to make his mark. But so are the Bucks who will look into Kidd for wisdom and direction. They could be heading for something special.
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