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Kidd Impressions

Jason Kidd developed a distinction over his 19-year playing career as one of the elite point guards in NBA history.

He entered another exclusive group when he entered the NBA head coaching ranks less than nine days after retiring as a player, despite having no previous coaching experience. He became only the third individual since the NBA/ABA merger to debut as a head coach in the season after he retired as a player, joining Mike Dunleavy and Paul Silas.

Kidd followed Mark Jackson and preceded Derek Fisher and Steve Kerr in making the transition from player to NBA head coach without serving as a head coach or assistant coach at any level.

When Kidd retired as a player with career averages of 12.6 points, 8.7 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 1.93 steals per game spanning stints with Dallas, Phoenix, New Jersey and New York, his ranks among the NBA’s all-time leaders were second in assists (12,091) and steals (2,684), third in minutes (50,111), 3-point field goals made (1,988) and triple-doubles (107), and sixth in games played (1,391).

Nine days after retiring from the New York Knicks as a player, Kidd was hired as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, whom he led to a 44-38 record and a sixth seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. The Nets knocked off the third-seeded Toronto Raptors in an opening–round series before being ousted by the Miami Heat in the second round.

Kidd signed on to become the 14th head coach in Milwaukee Bucks history on July 1, 2014, after the Nets agreed to release him from his contract in exchange for second-round picks in the 2015 and 2019 NBA Drafts.

Kidd made his debut as an NBA player as a 21-year-old with the Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 5, 1994. He missed achieving a triple-double that night by one rebound.

Thirty-one days later, Giannis Antetokounmpo was born, and within the next six months, Jabari Parker and Damien Inglis followed him into the world.

Zaza Pachulia, the oldest member of the young 2014-15 Bucks team at 30 years of age, was 9 years old when Kidd played his first NBA game. Like most of his teammates, Pachulia became an admirer of Kidd’s – first as a fan, then as an opposing player – as he watched him carve out his niche as one of the game’s premier point guards.

“He was a player that I had the privilege of playing against,” Pachulia said. “He was the type of player who, as a big man, you wanted to play with. He made things so much easier for everybody. The career he had was amazing, and you have to respect that.

“He was a huge part of Dallas’ championship run. I enjoyed watching him and the way he played. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to play with him, but now I’m getting the opportunity to play for him as our head coach.”

Bucks guard Jerryd Bayless was born and raised in Phoenix. He was 8 years old on Dec. 27, 1996, when Dallas traded Kidd, Tony Dumas and Loren Meyer to the Phoenix Suns for Sam Cassell, A.C. Green and Michael Finley.

“Since I lived in Phoenix, I saw more of Coach Kidd as a player than most of our guys,” Bayless said. “He had the blond hair back then.

“At the end of the day, he was one of the best to ever do it. He’s one of the all-time great playmakers. After seeing him play in Phoenix, I wasn’t surprised at all with where his career went and how it ended up. I think most of our guys remember enough about him to understand what he was able to do.”

Many miles from Arizona, Bucks guard O.J. Mayo began to take notice of Kidd, too.

“My first memories of him probably go back earlier than most of our guys,” said Mayo, now 26. “I remember him playing in Phoenix a little bit.

“I grew up in Cincinnati and Kenyon Martin was my guy. I was a ball boy for the Bearcats. After Kenyon went to the league, I saw Coach Kidd playing with Kenyon, Kerry Kittles, (Keith) Van Horn on those Jersey teams.

“Throughout his career, naysayers said this and that, but his energy level and focus and professionalism toward the game got him over the top. If you can’t learn from that, what else can you learn from?

“He’s one of the most athletic guards ever to play in this league. There was a time when people said, ‘He’s not a good shooter.’ He became one of the top four 3-point shooters in the league. His work ethic and dedication to the game and his teammates, getting people better and playing the right way were so great over all those years.”

During Kidd’s years in with Phoenix, he also began to catch the eye of Bucks forward Khris Middleton, now 23.

“I remember little flashes of when he was in Phoenix with the blond hair, and then with New Jersey when he played with Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson on the wings,” Middleton said. “I mainly remember the crazy passes he used to throw on fast breaks – the off-the-backboard passes from halfcourt going to the center.

“I mostly remember the way he set up his teammates and helped his teams win big games.”

Bucks guard Brandon Knight, who will turn 23 next month, became a Kidd fan during the same time frame.

“What I remember most about him as a player was his ability to think the game,” Knight said. “He was a very smart player. Of course, in his younger years, he was very athletic and one of the best bigger, quicker guards.

“As he got older, with him playing so long, he was able to adjust his game as he got into different situations. That let you know that he’s a very smart guy when it comes to basketball.”

Bucks guard Kendall Marshall, 23, monitored Kidd’s career closely over a number of years. He was thrilled when Kidd returned to Dallas in 2008 and, at the age of 38, became the oldest starting point guard to lead his team to a league title in 2011.

“I was always a Dallas Mavericks fan,” Marshall said. “I also watched him when a lot while he was in Jersey. Those would be some of my earliest memories of him, when he was playing with Vince (Carter) and Kenyon (Martin). But Dallas was always my favorite team, so I was happy that he was able to win a championship there.”

Marshall was asked what he thought separated Kidd from other point guards.

“He made a way,” Marshall replied. “That’s something that I was fortunate to be around last year with Steve Nash (on the Lakers) and with Coach Kidd now. There’s always a solution to a problem. It’s not, ‘Aw, I can’t make the pass.’ You just have to find another way to do it.

“That’s something that I’ve tried to take from both of them. There’s always a way. There’s always a solution.”

(Visit bucks.com again soon for Part II of this series.)