In a twenty-four hour span, the NBA saw two of their own move into the head coaching ranks.
First came the reports that the Dallas Mavericks hired their former point guard, Jason Kidd, to a four-year deal. Then late Friday night, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Portland Trailblazers hired Clippers’ assistant Chauncey Billups as their new head coach.
Their hires bring both applause and questions.
As a player, Kidd dominated the NBA hardwood as a triple-double threat every night. He was selected second overall by the Mavericks in the 1994 NBA Draft and had an immediate impact. He was named co-Rookie of the Year, led the league in assists five times and retired in second place on the all-time assists list. The ten-time All-Star played with teams such as the Mavericks, Suns, Nets and Knicks. He led the Nets to back-to-back Finals appearances (2002, 2003) and won an NBA Title with the Mavericks (2011), He also won two Olympic Gold Medals with Team USA (2000, 2008).
Chauncey “Mr. Big Shot” Billups was regarded as one the toughest point guards in the league. Billups was selected by the Boston Celtics with the third overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft. He played for the Raptors and Timberwolves but made his mark with the Pistons. In 2004, Billups won the 2004 NBA championship with Detroit and was named Finals MVP. In his career, Billups was a five-time All-Star and a two-time All-Defensive Team player.
Kidd brings head coaching experience with him. He was a head coach with the Brooklyn Nets from 2013-2014. He was ushered off to Milwaukee as the Bucks’ new head coach (2014-2018). In 2019 he joined the Lakers as an assistant coach.
Billups lacks head coaching experience but has strong leadership and analytical skills. He was an NBA analyst for ESPN and is an assistant coach with the Clippers this season.
The Critiques
At a time where the Mavericks are suffering through internal drama, a strong leader is needed to take the helm.
Dallas has a toxic culture complete with allegations of sexual harassment and domestic assault charges. They traded for Kristaps Porzingis in 2018, despite having a rape charge against him. And in 2001, Kidd himself pled guilty to hitting his now-ex-wife.
Last week the drama intensified. After The Athletic published story on the organization’s internal strife, Rick Carlisle, the team’s head coach for the last 13 seasons, stepped down to take the Pacers head coaching job. Then the team parted ways with Donnie Nelson, their former president of basketball operations who had been with the team since 1998. They hired Nike executive Nico Harrison as his replacement.
Kidd was given props by current players like LeBron James and Damian Lillard, Mavs owner Mark Cuban and former player Dirk Nowitski. But there were questions about his interpersonal skills during his tenure in Milwaukee. After he was fired by the Bucks, criticism surfaced. In 2018, Howard Beck of Bleacher Report said of Kidd, “He has a reputation for burning bridges, going all the way back to his playing days.”
Despite making the playoffs with both the Nets and the Bucks, his relationships appeared to sour. Sources told Beck that he always blamed the players and held a love-hate relationship with them. They felt that “Kidd’s demanding, old-school-style had worn thin.”
Kidd said it was the cost of building a winning culture.
“When you are learning how to win, it’s going to hurt,” he said to Beck. “I told the players that. I showed them the piece of metal that’s in my hip”—a replica of a piece inserted during his 2015 hip surgery. “You’re going to give a piece of your body to this game if you want to be good. … The money, the fame, whatever comes with it is great. But it does hurt to win.”
The critique of Billups is his lack of head coaching experience. The Blazers have been bounced out of the first round of the playoffs in four of the last five seasons. Damian Lillard, 30, isn’t getting any younger and trade rumors have started swirling, clouding his future in Portland. They are also one of the worst defensive teams in the league, ranking 29th.
It should be noted that Billups also was accused of rape back in 1997. He denied the allegations. No charges were filed and he settled a civil lawsuit filed against him by an unnamed woman.
Both men bring baggage with them, giving rise to the criticism. But their hires are also being lauded.
The Praise
“I like J. Kidd and Chauncey,” said Lillard.
The NBA has three young, Black head coaches in the Conference Finals (the Suns’ Monty Williams, the Clippers’ Tyronn Lue, and the Hawks’ Nate McMillan). And a fourth, the Sixers’ Doc Rivers, lost in the last round to McMillan. These hires add two new Black coaches to the league, giving it a total of nine.
The new head coaches are also former players. This continues to open the door and strengthen the pipeline for former players in the professional coaching ranks. Billups’ lack of head coaching experience shouldn’t be harped on; it worked for Steve Nash in Brooklyn. And as for the knock on Kidd, learning how to win is a process. Look at Michael Jordan and the later Kobe Bryant. Their ascents to the top came with pain, drama, fights, criticism, and frustration. With a young team like Kidd had with the Bucks, that should be expected.
Dallas has a bonified superstar in Luka Doncic, a player in the mold of Jason Kidd. Who better to learn from? Former Mavs’ coach Rick Carlisle agrees.
“I just think that it would be a great situation for Luka, and I think it would be an amazing situation for Jason,” said Carlisle. “I’m the only person on the planet that’s coached both of those guys and that knows about all of their special qualities as basketball players. To me, that just would be a great marriage, but that’s just an opinion.”
Lillard gets a coach who knows how to lead and play defense. A point guard with a championship and a winning mentality who, like him, possesses the ability to take and make the big shot.
Time grants smart people the opportunity to mature, learn and build experience. Both men have been granted that time and now have the chance to showcase their talents.
It’s up to them to prove the critics wrong.
