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New York Knicks: Young point guards receive advice from Jason Kidd

By Rob Wolkenbrod

OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 11: Jason Kidd #5 of the New York Knicks in a game against the Golden State Warriors on March 11, 2013 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2013 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 11: Jason Kidd #5 of the New York Knicks in a game against the Golden State Warriors on March 11, 2013 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2013 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Pro Basketball Hall of Famer Jason Kidd provided a few words of wisdom for the New York Knicks, before Wednesday’s tilt against the Phoenix Suns.

The New York Knicks have cycled through point guards for the better part of two decades, with Stephon Marbury, Raymond Felton, Jeremy Lin and Derrick Rose among the players to handle the ball at Madison Square Garden.

Among them, but for one season, was Jason Kidd, who entered the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. He spent the 2012-13 season with the Knicks, which became their most recent playoff appearance, as well as his final NBA run.

Kidd, however, is friends with head coach David Fizdale, and became the latest legend to provide tutelage for this young team. This time, it was a learning experience for the point guards, Emmanuel Mudiay and Dennis Smith Jr., according to Marc Berman of the New York Post:

"“That’s a real big-time one over there,’’ Fizdale said, pointing to the Kidd-Smith-Mudiay summit. “We’ve been friends a long time – go back to high school days. I figure we’re here. Who better to talk to my point guards than one of the best and greatest ever?”"

Kidd also lives in Phoenix, where the Knicks played Wednesday night and lost to the Suns, which made this meet-up work.

Mudiay and Smith are 22 and 21, respectively, and have ways to go in their development, so receiving tips from someone like Kidd, who remains one of the NBA’s most talented point guards ever, obviously can’t hurt.

For whatever advice these players received, Knicks fans can only hope they took it in stride. Both have long-term futures in the NBA, wherever it may be after 2018-19 ends, and can use these words of wisdom towards their long-term development.

The 45 year old has sat out of the NBA this season, after a head coaching stint with the Milwaukee Bucks that resulted in his mid-year firing in 2017-18, at a 23-22 record and 139-152 overall with the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led team. It’s the first time Kidd’s presence has not been felt since the 1993-94 season — the year before he entered the League.

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Mudiay, Smith or even Frank Ntilikina, who Berman noted was not part of this meeting, could be the future of the Knicks at point guard. Maybe it’s someone else. Either way, events like this are positive for a team trying to find silver linings in a disastrous season.

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