When the New York Knicks were searching for a head coach over the summer, Jason Kidd was at the top of their list, despite still being employed by the Dallas Mavericks. The interest apparently was not reciprocated. He said as much ahead of the Knicks’ Nov. 19 win over the Mavs.
But he may not have been entirely truthful.
Kidd confirmed to the media that the Mavs denied the Knicks’ request to interview him during the offseason. But Dallas’ refusal is immaterial, because as Kidd also noted, he wasn’t interested in joining New York, or leaving Big D at all.
We should take this account with a dose of skepticism. While Kidd may not have actively been plotting to escape Dallas, Newsday’s Barbara Barker and SNY’s Ian Begley do not buy that he wasn’t interested in a return to the Big Apple.
“I know he said he had no interest in coming here,” Barker explained on a recent episode of The Putback with Ian Begley, at around the 30:05 mark. “I’m not sure I buy into that.” Begley echoed her sentiments, saying: “I don’t buy it.”
Jason Kidd probably had some interest in the Knicks
Any dalliance between the two sides was certainly initiated by the Knicks. They had a head-coaching vacancy, and were requesting to speak with every currently employed name under the sun.
As Begley also divulged to Barker: “If there was a list, he would have probably been No. 1 on the list.”
Still, are we really supposed to believe New York’s interest wasn’t flattering to Kidd? And to some degree appealing?
Kidd interviewed to become the Knicks’ head coach in 2020, before they settled on Tom Thibodeau. He has familiarity with Jalen Brunson. His ties to Giannis Antetokounmpo jibe with New York’s own interest in the two-time MVP.
Above all, though, the Mavs were spinning their wheels at the time (and still are), even after winning the right to draft Cooper Flagg. Kidd, in particular, was disenchanted with then-lead executive Nico Harrison’s decision to trade Luka Doncic, and the way he went about justifying it.
On some level, even if only slightly, the opportunity to begin anew somewhere else, steering a more competitive team, had to at least pique his curiosity.
Jason Kidd is sitting pretty without the Knicks now
So much has changed since the Knicks attempted to poach Kidd, and it all factors into his pro-Dallas sentiments now.
Harrison is gone. Kidd received an extension following New York’s interest. And most importantly, his level of power within the Mavs organization is reportedly ascending.
Anyone who has followed Kidd’s coaching career understands how much the last tidbit matters. Relative to how things unfolded when he manned the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, he is overdue for a power play in Dallas.
Opportunity can sometimes be borne out of organizational wreckage now. Kidd is positioned to reap the benefits of the Mavs’ implosion. That is no doubt more appealing than falling in line as just another head coach with the Knicks.
Would he have said the same, given truth serum, over the summer when Harrison was still in charge? We’ll never know. But we can guess.