The Jason Kidd disrespect is getting unbelievably out of hand.
After coming off an NBA Finals appearance last June, the start of the 2024-25 NBA season will be here before the Dallas Mavericks can even blink. Almost immediately after Dallas’ loss in the Finals, the Mavericks managed to perform an extremely successful roster re-tool in the offseason that saw the organization bring in their most coveted free agency signing in franchise history with Klay Thompson.
This wouldn’t have been possible without Dallas regaining an immense amount of credibility over the last few seasons though, as the Mavericks have completely reshaped their pedigree as an organization after perpetual mediocrity in most of Dirk Nowitzki’s final seasons with the team.
This also would have never been possible without Dallas signing Jason Kidd as their head coach ahead of the 2021-22 season. Kidd has helped change the perception of Dallas’ franchise and has completely revamped himself as a head coach in the league since being in Dallas by leading the team to two trips to the Western Conference Finals in the last three seasons.
Jason Kidd being ranked 18th out of all coaches is disrespectful
However, there are still many doubters in regard to how valid Kidd’s track record is as an NBA head coach, as he was recently ranked as the 18th-best coach in the league in an article by Sam Quinn of CBS Sports.
Quinn cites Kidd’s inability to adjust lineups during his Brooklyn and Milwaukee days as the reason he came in lower than middle of the pack in his rankings, yet Quinn did recognize Kidd’s ability to lead Dallas to two deep playoff runs in recent years.
Quinn’s synopsis of Kidd as a coach seemed relatively fair, but it really feels like he’s not giving enough credit to Kidd for the strides he’s made as an in-game adjuster as well as his playoff success in Dallas.
It’s objectively untrue that Kidd is the best coach in the league when you take into consideration his overall body of work, but ranking him 18th in the league after Kidd led Dallas to an NBA Finals run is completely disrespectful by Quinn.
For comparison, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was ranked 11th in the league by Quinn and Mazzulla has only been a coach for one season, even if he did win an NBA Championship last season.
Kidd obviously had a talented roster last season, but part of the reason he had a talented roster is because players around the league look at Kidd as a player’s coach given his successful playing career, which is definitely part of the reason Dallas was able to sign Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson to multi-year deals in recent seasons.
Kidd still has areas where he can improve within the margins as a coach such as being less reluctant to change his rotation in a timely manner, but it’s ludicrous to rank him as only the 18th best coach in the league.
