Just over a year removed from his last game on the sidelines with the Milwaukee Bucks, Jason Kidd was in studio on Monday night for NBA TV’s Gametime Pregame show.
It just so happened that the two teams going head-to-head were the two teams Jason has coached, the Bucks and the Brooklyn Nets. Before sending it off to Brooklyn for the start of the game, NBA TV’s Kristen Ledlow picked J-Kidd’s brain on the Bucks, specifically the evolution of the game of Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“He’s a special human being, on and off the floor. He makes it easy. He’s a point guard in a seven-foot body and he’s unselfish. That’s his nature. And to be able to give him the ball, as a coach, made my job easier, because he’s going to find guys, he’s going to put pressure on a defense. It’s just a matter of making open shots and the Milwaukee Bucks are doing that.”
Jason then demonstrated how he and Bucks coaches helped Giannis discover and unlock his potential as a ball-handler for Milwaukee to run its offense throughlast year, and the steps he has taken this season to become an even better player. Watch below.
Later in the program, it was time for Jason and co-analyst Derek Fisher to get on the hot seat for a little give-and-go. Ledlow lobbed both former point guards questions about another one of J-Kidd’s former teams, the Dallas Mavericks.
Part of the last Mavs team to win a championship, J was asked if the newly formed Dallas duo of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis has what it takes to bring the Mavericks another title.
“The duo is going to be exciting to watch,” Jason said. “They have a great owner. He’s going to put the right pieces around those two to develop. And they have a great coach in Rick Carlisle. So I say they are going to win a championship.”