When it was first floated that Jason Kidd could step right off the floor into the role of head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, there was a whole lot of “are you sure about that?” Stan Van Gundy still feels that way (we’ll get to that later).
But the Nets are apparently getting very serious — the words “serious frontrunner” were used by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
The Nets had long been rumored to be interested in Brian Shaw and they are going ahead with that interview, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.
Nets' plans unchanged. Mikhail Prokhorov still sending private jet to bring Brian Shaw to Brooklyn tonight for interview Wednesday afternoon
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 11, 2013
Kidd just retired last week from the Knicks after a Hall of Fame 19-year NBA career. He won a title as part of the 2011 Dalas Mavericks.
Stan Van Gundy isn’t sold on the idea of Kidd stepping off the court into the coaching ranks. SVG was on the Amani & Eytan show on NBC Sports Radio and was no fan of this move.
“There are so many people out there who have great experience in coaching,” Van Gundy said. “To go for a guy who has never coached anywhere at any level to me is mind boggling. And, if you decide to do that as a front office guy, your job will be on the line and should be on the line if it doesn’t work out.”
Thing is, ownership seems to be driving this, so who is going to take the fall?
Three quick thoughts from me.
1) If you really wanted Shaw and you knew you had competition from the Clippers (and maybe Nuggets) to get his services, wouldn’t creating demand for the job to force him to make a quicker decision be the smart play? I’m not saying that’s what is happening, Wojnarowski knows his stuff here, I’m just saying there is some logic there.
2) The ability of Kidd to pull a Mark Jackson — go from no coaching experience to winning — will be all about the assistant coaches. Mark Jackson had Mike Malone (who the Kings just hired away) and the very respected Darren Erman, among others. Kidd’s staff is going to be built around Lawrence Frank, which is a good call. But Frank has been a head coach, he doesn’t want to do all the work and get none of the credit.
3) Kidd has had his share of off-the-court indiscretions over the course of his career, including a DWI accident last year (a charge he fought). When you are a star player those are swept under the rug because your talent is not easily replaced. That is not the case as coach. It’s long hours and a lifestyle change and he should know that and needs to be ready to commit to it.