The Los Angeles Lakers will have at least one assistant coach to replace this summer after Jason Kidd accepted the head coaching position on the Dallas Mavericks.
After two failed head coaching stints with the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, Kidd joined Frank Vogel’s staff two years ago in hopes of repairing his image to get another opportunity.
While many had concerns when the Lakers brought Kidd in that the organization was setting it up for him to be Vogel’s replacement, that ended up being far from the truth. Vogel won a championship in his first season with the team and has been extremely complimentary of the work Kidd has done behind the scenes the last two seasons.
It appears the work Kidd did to repair his image worked as he was linked to almost every head coaching vacancy this offseason before landing with the Mavericks, where he won a championship as a player in 2011.
Before he embarks on the new journey of coaching a team led by arguably the NBA’s brightest young star in Luka Doncic, Kidd took to social media to express gratitude to the Lakers organization for the last two seasons:
Thank you @Lakers @JeanieBuss for the last two years and the opportunity to grow as a coach. Our championship season was unforgettable. Thrilled to return to the @dallasmavs organization and begin another chapter @mcuban! #MFFL pic.twitter.com/HN1FacKTzY
— Jason Kidd (@RealJasonKidd) June 28, 2021
Who the Lakers hire as a replacement remains to be seen, but there perhaps could be some more former head coaches looking to repair their image the same way Kidd did, and the best way to do that could be to join Vogel’s staff and coach a team led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
For Kidd though, this could be his final opportunity to get things right as a head coach in the NBA as if things go wrong with Doncic and other solid players around him then it is hard to see a team give him a fourth chance.
Kidd recently discussed what he learned from Vogel in his time with the Lakers though, which should leave him better prepared to be a head coach this time around.
James shares mixed emotions about Kidd’s departure
One player who took to social media to wish Kidd well in Dallas was James, who has a previous relationship with the Hall of Fame point guard dating back to their days playing for Team USA in the Olympics.
While James is sad to see Kidd go, he made sure to wish him luck moving forward.
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