Jared Dudley spent 14 seasons in the NBA and, for the most part, was a solid role player, after which he transitioned to coaching. Dudley made a name for himself with the Suns, before being traded to the Clippers in 2013 during the Lob City era. Dudley wouldn’t stay there for too long, however, as the team shipped him off to Milwaukee, where he would become teammates with a certain Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Giannis’ inspirational story is well known at this point. He was this scrawny teenager who had a lot of promise, but no one in their wildest dreams could have seen him turn into the superstar that he is today. Dudley arrived in Milwaukee in Giannis’ second season in the league and he could see that there was something special about this young man.
Jared Dudley Reveals That He Told Jason Kidd To Start Giannis Antetokounmpo Over Him In 2014
Antetokounmpo was coming off a solid debut season in the league, as he was named into the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. He did get the opportunity to start 23 games as a rookie, but new head coach Jason Kidd had Giannis on the bench at the beginning of the 2014-15 season, with Dudley starting over him. Antetokounmpo would, however, be inserted into the starting lineup after just a few games and Dudley revealed during a recent appearance on the Run Your Race podcast that he told Kidd to start Giannis over him.
(starts at 1:05 mark):
“I’m starting over Giannis probably the first 10-12 games and at this time I’m seeing ‘Hey listen I’m starting to slow down a little bit.’ Giannis (for me) is like ‘Yo this is a kid we need, where we’re trying to go, we need him.’ I go in the office of J-Kidd, you can ask J-Kidd saying ‘Listen you need to start Giannis.’ They start Giannis, I go to the bench, 6th, 7th, 8th man depending on who comes out the game (and) we take off.”
There was definitely something special about Giannis as he validated the decision to start him by showing improvement across the board in his second season and by 2017, he was an All-Star. Dudley was long gone by then, having been traded to the Wizards in 2015, but he was on the money with what he said, as Giannis ended up taking the Bucks to the top in 2021.
He probably would have done it again this past season if Khris Middleton hadn’t gotten injured and Giannis will be aiming to get back to the Finals next year. As for Dudley, during this episode, he also shared a hilarious story of when he thought he had been drafted by the Lakers, only to realize moments later that it was Javaris Crittenton who got picked by them.
