Sitting alongside team owner Mark Cuban, CEO Cynt Marshall and newly appointed general manager Nico Harrison, Jason Kidd relished the moment as he was officially announced as the new head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, a team that’s been a recurring character in his illustrious NBA career. 

“What a dream come true,” J-Kidd said. “What an incredible journey to be drafted, to win Rookie of the Year, to win a championship and then to come back and be the head coach to have this opportunity to empower our young players on and off the floor.”

For the third time in his career, Jason sat in front of the media to address his role as the new head coach for a team in need of a productivity boost. But this time it was a little different. He admitted on Thursday that a lot has changed since his first press conference with the Brooklyn Nets. Most of those changed J-Kidd counts as learning experiences.

“What I got to learn for the last two years is something that I didn’t know when I took the job with Brooklyn,” Jason said. 

Though the road to this point has been paved with ups and downs, it seems every step of the way, Jason has been able to take something important away from each job he’s had. All of that newfound experience has led him back to the organization he called home for eight seasons over two stints.

Despite the press conference coming weeks after his hiring announcement, Jason has already been hard at work in making sure to connect with his current roster of players, including Mavericks star Luka Doncic. 

“I’ve talked to Luka,” Kidd said. “It was a great conversation. He’s excited.”

 The chance to build around and potentially unlock even more of Doncic’s potential will be one of the more intriguing storylines in Jason’s first year as head coach. But he also made sure to point out a few other players that he’s excited to help take the next step such as 2020 first-round pick Josh Green. 

“We’re going to develop Josh Green and help him reach the next level,” J-Kidd said.

While there’s certainly an emphasis on further developing the younger side of the roster, the primary focus in Dallas is still to win now. With a central star in Doncic and plenty of quality role players surrounding him, Jason hopes to lead the Mavericks to their first playoff series win since Kidd himself, as the point guard, led them to victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. 

Luckily for Cuban and the rest of the Mavs organization, Jason seems up to the task after spending two seasons with a Los Angeles Lakers team that won its 17th NBA Championship in 2020 and made the playoffs as a seven-seed this season. And while J-Kidd loved his time with the Lakers, it’s clear that this new opportunity was too perfect for him to pass up. 

“If anyone tells you out there that dreams don’t come true,” Jason said, “let them come talk to me.”