The job Jason Kidd has done turning around the Nets season after a tough start has been receiving praise from all over. On Monday, it earned Jason an honor from the NBA.
Jason was named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for January, just his third month as a NBA coach, after piloting the Nets to a 10-3 record in the first month of 2014. It marked the best winning percentage for the month of January in the franchise’s 38 NBA seasons.
But when asked about receiving the award, Coach Kidd continually deflected credit to his team.
“I think it’s a great honor for guys in that locker room because they’ve been playing at a high level,” he said. “I’m still feeling my way. But I’ve seen a lot in the first couple months. The biggest thing is being able to communicate with those guys in that locker room and making sure that we’re all on the same page.”
The Nets entered the month of January with a record of 10-21, sitting near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. But as the team opened a new calendar year, Coach Kidd preached to them about treating it as a fresh start and the players took it to heart.
Asked about the early adversity, Kidd said he wouldn’t trade it for a better start.
“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” he said. “This is the perfect situation for me.”
J-Kidd is the fourth coach in Nets history to win Coach of the Month. He is also the fourth person in NBA history to win both coach and player of the month honors. He was a three-time player of the month during his career (Nets: November 2001 and December 2002, Suns: April 1999). Fellow rookie coach Jeff Hornacek, who was last month’s Western Conference Coach of the Month with the Suns, is the only other person to win coach and player of the month with the same franchise.
