Like his play on the court over a 19-year NBA career, Jason Kidd’s first year as a NBA coach elicited many adjectives from onlookers.
Oftentimes tumultuous, Jason’s rookie coaching season began as a roller coaster ride. During the first two months of the season, his team reached new depths of despair, its lowest point coming after a New Year’s Eve matchup with the San Antonio Spurs when a 21-point loss left the Nets with just 10 wins in their first 31 games.
But Brooklyn rallied from the depths to finish the season with 34 wins in their final 51 games and reach the playoffs. During that run, Jason showed a keen sense of control not often exhibited by a rookie coach, leading his team to a sixth seed in the postseason, and a first round series win before they bowed out to the two-time defending NBA champion Miami Heat in the second round.
After the season, Jason reflected fondly on his first year as a NBA head coach.
“My first year as a coach, there were a lot of unknowns, so understanding that going in, with the staff and the players I had, I couldn’t ask for a better situation. I’m happy that my first year as a coach to have been with those guys in that locker room,” he said. “It was a great learning experience. I have a great staff and great guys in that locker room to be able to coach and be around, so it was a fantastic year.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Jason’s inaugural season began with the Nets retiring his No. 5 jersey and hanging it in the rafters at the Barclays Center. Aside from J-Kidd’s now-enshrined No. 5, check out some of the other intriguing digits surrounding Coach Kidd and his Nets this season.
1 – When his Nets defeated the Toronto Raptors in Game 7 of their first round series, Jason became the only first-year head coach to ever a playoff Game 7 on the road.
1.26 – J-Kidd’s Nets averaged 1.26 points per shot, ranking them fifth in the league for the regular season.
2 – Jason joined Chicago’s Tom Thibodeau in becoming just the second rookie head coach to win Eastern Conference Coach of the Month twice.
6 – The Nets finished sixth in the league in turnovers forced, creating 15 per game.
6 – Six nets averaged double figures scoring. Another six averaged five or more points per game.
7 – Brooklyn dropped just seven games in January and March, while winning 22. Jason won Coach of the Month for both months.
15 – The Nets won a franchise record 15 straight games at home this season.
66.7 – Kidd’s Nets won 66.7 percent of their regular-season games after Jan. 1.
CELEBRATORY START
As one of the most celebrated point guards to ever play the game, guiding a team through the rigorous and grueling NBA season was nothing new for Jason Kidd.
The 10-time All-Star was a model of consistency during his playing career, and led teams to the playoffs in 17 consecutive seasons before retiring as a player following the 2012-13 season.
Just a few short weeks later, Jason decided to attempt to steer a team from a different position, when he accepted the head coaching position for the Brooklyn Nets.
“Jason is a proven winner and leader with an incredible wealth of basketball knowledge and experience,” Nets general manager Billy King said at the time. “This will be a natural transition for him to move into the role of head coach, as he embodies the tough, smart and team-first mentality that we are trying to establish in Brooklyn.”
The former Net, who holds franchise records in assists, steals, three-point field goals made, and triple doubles, relished the opportunity to begin his coaching career.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to be named head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, and it’s a role I have been studying for over the course of my playing days,” said J-Kidd. “Championship teams are built on being prepared, playing unselfishly and being held accountable, and that’s how I expect to coach this basketball team. I am truly excited about this next phase of my basketball career.”
The Nets honored Jason before he coached a game, as his No. 5 was raised to the rafters at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center prior to a preseason game against the Miami Heat.
A ROCKY ROAD
Despite high expectations for a squad assembled with a championship in mind, things did not go smoothly for Coach Kidd to start the 2013-14 campaign.
Through training camp and early in the season, the Nets dealt with injuries, which hindered their ability to play cohesively and Jason’s ability to implement his system.
The first month of the season was a turbulent one. J-Kidd earned his first win as a head coach in a 104-88 thrashing of the Utah Jazz on November 5th. But a five-game losing streak in the middle of the month left Brooklyn at 3-10 through their first 13 games.
The Nets ended November with a record of 5-12 and their struggles continued into the month of December, as they battled nagging injuries to Deron Williams, Kevin Garnett, Andrei Kirilenko, and Brook Lopez, forcing Kidd to make tough adjustments on the fly.
A 30-point loss to the New York Knicks on December 5th left the Nets at 5-14. They did go on to win their next three games, including a victory at home over their Los Angeles Clippers, however on December 21st, Brooklyn was dealt another huge blow as the team announced that Lopez would have season-ending foot surgery.
The Nets won just two of their final nine games in December, culminating in that 113-92 loss to the Spurs in San Antonio on New Year’s Eve. They ended 2013 with a record of 10-21 and in the cellar of the Atlantic Division.
“How do you respond when things don’t go well?” Kidd asked. “We got to find out right off the bat. I wouldn’t panic.”
FRESH START
Panic was never in Jason’s DNA as a player, and it wouldn’t prove to be part of his coaching style either.
The New Year brought new life for Coach Kidd and his Nets, who used the calendar reset as a chance to refresh and refocus. Brooklyn’s rookie head coach made all the right adjustments and suddenly, the Nets found themselves on the right track.
With Lopez out, Kidd moved Garnett to center and shifted Paul Pierce to the power forward position. Both moves paid immediate dividends.
Brooklyn’s first game of 2014 came on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 2nd. In a sign of things to come, Coach Kidd’s squad showed resilience and heart in a come-from-behind 95-93 victory. With the game tied at 93, J-Kidd let Joe Johnson take the potential game winning shot, and Joe delivered at the buzzer.
“I thought we as a team did a great job in keeping the game close and coming up with the big plays, especially in the fourth quarter and down the stretch,” Johnson said. “Coach drew the play up in the huddle, and the rest is history.”
From there, the Nets took off, looking like a team reborn. Jason’s squad went 10-3 in the month of January, including wins over the Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors, and New York Knicks. With his players finally healthy, J-Kidd showed his true chops as a coach and for his efforts, Jason was awarded Coach of the Month by the NBA.
“I think it’s a great honor for guys in that locker room because they’ve been playing at a high level,” he said of the award.
HOME COOKING
In February, the Nets continued to roll, particularly at home, where they went a perfect 4-0 during the short month. The All-Star break brought a reprieve, but Brooklyn wrapped a road trip around the break, over which they went 4-3 as the calendar flipped to March.
It was in March that the Nets were perhaps at their peak. Brooklyn amassed a 12-4 record over the course of the month, including another perfect mark of 9-0 at the Barclays Center, setting a new franchise best mark that eventually stopped at 15 in early April.
The Nets were strong on the road in March as well, highlighted by a 107-104 overtime victory on March 27 — Jason’s birthday — in his Dallas homecoming. Afterward, Coach Kidd lauded his team for their effort to fight back and beat the Mavs.
“We found ourselves winning a ballgame that maybe in 2013 we would have lost,” he said.
At the end of March, the NBA once again recognized Jason with the Coach of the Month accolade for his continued success. He became just the second rookie coach in NBA history to win the award twice in one season, joining Chicago’s Tom Thibodeau. However, J-Kidd once again deflected praise to his players
“It’s about the guys in the locker room,” Kidd said. “Those guys are playing at a high level.”
PLAYOFF BOUND
On the same day he received that second coach of the month honor, Coach Kidd’s team gave him a much more meaningful reward with a 105-96 win over the Houston Rockets at the Barclays Center that clinched Brooklyn’s spot in the postseason.
“That’s something that we felt we could accomplish as a team,” Coach Kidd said after the victory. “Unfortunately we didn’t start off well and some people didn’t believe it, but we just stayed the course.”
As starters rested for the postseason, the Nets finished the season with five wins in 10 April contests for a season record of 44-38, which locked them into the sixth seed and a first round matchup with Atlantic Division Champion Toronto Raptors.
TAKING DOWN TORONTO
The Nets used the playoff experience held by Coach Kidd and veterans like Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to their advantage in what ended up being a knock-down, drag-out seven game battle with the Raptors.
Led by Pierce’s late-game heroics and some lock down defense, they stole Game 1 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, 87-84, a critical way to start the series.
“Playoff basketball is about getting stops at crucial times in the game,” Jason said of his team’s defense down the stretch. “Everybody helped one another, trying to take away the three, understanding that they have guys who can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket. Our team defense of helping one another was big tonight to give us a chance to win on the road.”
Toronto evened the series with a 100-95 victory on their home floor in Game 2, but the Nets had earned the crucial road split to take homecourt and they bounced back in Game 3 on their floor with a great all-around performance. Brooklyn’s backcourt of Deron Williams and Joe Johnson shined, combining for 51 points in a 102-98 win that gave the Nets a 2-1 series lead.
“Those two are playing extremely well,” J-Kidd said. “They’re very aggressive. Joe is causing a lot of problems. He seems to get better as the game gets closer to the end.”
Brooklyn’s good vibes would soon be challenged as the Raptors took back homecourt advantage with a Game 4 win in Brooklyn and won Game 5 back in Toronto to suddenly push the Nets to the brink of elimination.
Still there was no panic in Coach Kidd’s style and his team’s performance over the next two games reflected that. In Game 6, Jason’s squad, led by 23 points from Williams, who battled criticism for his performances in Games 4 and 5, dug deep to even the series and force a Game 7 in Toronto.
“We’re professional,” Kidd said. Everyone has the right to their opinion, and it just shows the type of player
[Williams is], and what he’s all about that he stood up to whatever was said, and he responded with one of his best games.”Two days later, Jason became the first rookie head coach to win a Game 7 on the road, when his Nets outlasted the Raptors 104-103. Kyle Lowry had a chance to win the game in the final seconds, but Pierce blocked his shot to secure Brooklyn’s trip to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where they would face off against the Miami Heat.
Coach Kidd lauded the veteran’s ability to perform in the clutch and his defense’s ability to come up with yet another crucial stop on the road.
“[Pierce] didn’t have a great game,” Kidd said about the final play. “But it only takes one play to help a team win… Our defense, we bent but we didn’t break. For us to come in here and get a win, that just shows the character. It also shows how good we can be.”
TOO HOT TO HANDLE
The win set up a second round matchup against the two-time defending NBA champion Miami Heat, who had dispatched the Charlotte Bobcats in a four-game sweep in the first round.
Much was made of the Nets’ four wins over Miami in the regular season, but Jason did his best to pour water on that fire prior to the start of the series.
“We understand that we can use some of the things we have done in the regular season,” J-Kidd said. “But it’s 0-0, and it’s the first team to four.”
Indeed, the regular season results meant little as Miami picked up double-digit wins in each of the first two games of the series. Brooklyn answered back at home in Game 3, stringing together one of their best games of the season for a 104-90 victory to make it 2-1 in the best-of-seven.
“Every game is going to be different. Down in Miami, in the two games that we lost, we felt that with a couple possessions here or there, we could’ve found a way to win,” Coach Kidd said. “Tonight guys were all on the same page, executing the game plan and we found a way to win at home.”
Veteran star Paul Pierce credited the team’s temperament, cultivated by Coach Kidd, for allowing the team to bounce back after losing the first two games of the series.
“When we went down 2-0, we didn’t panic,” Pierce said. “We knew they would do things right the first two games, so we said no need to panic. We are going to get stuff right that we needed to get right, come home and execute.”
In Games 4 and 5, the Nets came out firing, and led at halftime. However, in each contest, Miami was able to ride superstar LeBron James, who both times helped the Heat put forth a comeback to win the game.
As such, Jason’s rookie coaching campaign ended, far more successfully than most would have thought at the beginning of the season.
“There’s always a winner and loser,” said after the 96-94 Game 5 loss. “We felt we had a great opportunity against the world champs and we came up short. No one wants to lose of for the season to come to an end, but to get to the second round is something for us to build on.”
THEY SAID IT
Going immediately from player to head coach, Jason Kidd’s move to become Brooklyn’s Coach was one of the popular talking points in the NBA this season.
While the campaign played out, there were plenty of positive testimonials from players, coaches and media members alike.
Andy Vasquez, The Record:
“There were some rocky, and baffling moments in Kidd’s abrupt transition from coach to player. But in the end, Kidd adjusted and guided a remarkable turnaround. And through it all, the competitive edge from his playing career was never far from the surface. Kidd isn’t a player anymore, but he’s still a competitor. He used that to his advantage in his first year as a coach.”
Nets forward Mirza Teletovic:
“He’s just comfortable. You can talk to him and he really explains things, like, Listen Mirza, you have to do these things for us and do this. He’ll tell you look, we’re going to draw up a play and you’re going to be right there and you’re going to get the ball and shoot it. You’re like, ok, right. Then you get the ball and you’re wide open and you shoot the ball.”
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich
“It is difficult [to learn coaching on the fly], obviously all the pressures from every which way. Those people that stick with it, have some perseverance, some standards and are strong enough to stick with them in the right way, good things can happen. And that’s what happened for him.”
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra:
“He’s a leader. He knows how to manage personalities. He knows how to get people together for a common goal. He was doing that for his entire career. That’s probably the biggest factor in coaching in this league.”
Nets forward Paul Pierce:
“He’s always had our trust that he will figure things out. He has one of the great basketball minds, and he can adapt to any role.”
Nets center Mason Plumlee:
“He’s been positive even when we were at our lowest point. I don’t think he ever questioned that we would turn it around.”
Phoenix Suns analyst Eddie Johnson:
“I knew that he could coach. People asked me ‘What is Jason going to do?’ I said, ‘The guy’s temperament is on the charts.’ …His demeanor is stoic. He’s under control…His effort and his demeanor is like Gregg Popovich in a sense.”
IN HIS OWN WORDS
After orchestrating an impressive turnaround over the course of his first season as a head coach in Brooklyn, Jason Kidd showed the ability to adapt quickly to his new role as a coach. When asked at the end of the season if he grew, he replied by flashing his familiar dry sense of humor, but J-Kidd also revealed that he did indeed evolve during his first run as a coach.
“I’m still 6’3” and a half and I still weigh 225. So did I grow? No. But maybe in understanding basketball a little bit better from [the perspective] not as a player, but as a coach, yes.”
