For the second time this season, Jason Kidd was named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month after leading the Brooklyn Nets to a 12-4 record in March. It's a feat that only one other rookie head coach (Tom Thibodeau) has ever accomplished. And it's a feat that literally no one could've foreseen. Because, let's just be honest, who really could have imagined the Nets going 30-12 since January 1 after such a pitiful start?
It's that same doubt which fueled articles bashing Kidd and the Nets' front office for making the decision to hire the inexperienced 41-year-old this past summer. But look at J-Kidd now. The Nets are 40-33, they've clinched a playoff spot and they are currently the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, we're eating crow for jumping to conclusions so early in the season. In fact, here are 10 people who need to issue that apology for doubting Kidd as a head coach ASAP because he has come a long way since this...
1. "(talking about Kidd's performance in the early part of the season) He gets an F. He gets a 0. My wife could coach a team to a 29th ranking for that team. She doesn't know much about basketball." —David Thorpe, ESPN, November 15
2. "(talking about the demotion of then-assistant coach Lawrence Frank) Only now, Kidd can't complain there's no talent with the Nets. Only now, there's nowhere else for him to run in the NBA, nowhere else to go. Only now, it's Jason Kidd on the clock." —Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo, December 27
3. "(talking about the Nets after a 4-11 start) Kidd is one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game and may in fact become a top-notch coach someday. But that day is not today, and he is not the right man to lead this team."—Andrew Tornetta, Bleacher Report, November 29
4. "(following a 113-83 loss to a struggling 3-13 New York Knicks) Way back when, Kidd took a 26-win New Jersey Nets team to two consecutive trips to the NBA Finals. So yes, if he could do that as a player, it's possible he could turn it around this year as a coach.
Only in the here and now, that looks like a bigger longshot than the $180 million Nets winning the East. Carmelo Anthony called the Knicks "the laughingstock of the league" the other day, but after four quarters of the city game Thursday night, the joke was most definitely on Jason Kidd."—Ian O'Connor, ESPN New York, December 6
5. "(talking about the Nets' 5-14 start) Kidd does not have it in him to be a head coach. He often does not pay attention during the games, and he has no answers to what has gone wrong with his struggling team."—Leslie Monteiro, Sportsology, December 6
6. "(following the Nets' 113-83 loss to the Knicks) The record (feel free to check my archives) will show that I was wholeheartedly disagreeable when King hired Jason Kidd, only 10 days removed from his retirement announcement as a player, to coach a team with a win-now directive."—Steve Lichtenstein, CBS New York, December 6
7. "(after the Nets fell to just 2-5) Kidd, in his first year coaching after a Hall of Fame career, is listed with 13/2 odds to be the first coach in the league fired, while Woodson has 15/2 odds."—Howie Kussoy, New York Post, November 14
8. "(after the Nets' 5-14 start to the season) With nearly 25 percent of the Nets’ season now done, it appears that Kidd has had long enough to show that he can turn the Nets into a viable playoff team, and he has failed miserably."—Tyler Leli, Rant Sports, December5
9. "(after only 19 games into the season) Jason Kidd has no idea what he’s doing as head coach of the Nets. Like, no clue. He’s in way over his head. He’s like a fat man in a health club, aimlessly wandering around with a protein shake, pretending to know what he’s doing."—A. Isaac, Guyism, December 4
10. "Kidd is just the latest in a long line of ex-star players who seemingly couldn’t hack it as coaches. Whether it’s Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, or now Kidd, it feels like, for some reason, these former superstars have some innate attribute that makes it incredibly difficult for them to succeed when they move into a head coaching position."—Complex, December 4
Yes, we're also sorry for doubting because in just his first season, look at what the Kidd did.
