Giannis Antetokounmpo has come a long way since coming to the league in 2013. He was the 15th overall pick in the draft and now he is in conversation as the best player in the league.
The last couple of years have been incredible for the Greek Freak. He won the regular season MVP, the Defensive Player of the Year, and most recently the first NBA championship of his career.
While the Bucks have built an amazing team around him, it would have been of no use if Giannis wasn’t the star that he is today. The credit for that? Well, of course, Antetokounmpo did most of the work himself, but all he needed was a little push and that came from Jason Kidd.
The current Dallas Mavericks head coach managed the Bucks for almost four years. During that time, Kidd’s coaching style was considered questionable.
In a recent book about Giannis by Mirin Fader, an excerpt stated that Giannis and Kidd had a strained relationship or even a beef. But Kidd has denied all the rumors.
“Did Giannis Write it?” Kidd questioned. “I’m waiting for Giannis for when he writes it. I’m aware of [the book], but if it’s not from Giannis I won’t pay attention to it…There are no feelings about it because it was not Giannis’ book. The cool thing is my relationship with Giannis goes beyond basketball. I talked to him a couple of hours after his son was born. Cool little name, ‘Maverick.’ See, you guys didn’t know that. That’s how close we are.“
It is hard to believe that there is any problem with Giannis’ relationship with his former coach. In fact, he even credited Kidd after winning the NBA championship.
Now, Kidd is turning a new chapter in his coaching career. He will be coaching the Dallas Mavericks and will have Luka Doncic under his wing. The franchise must be hoping that Kidd will help their young star in improving his game even more.
We will see the results of the training soon when the 2021-22 NBA season starts. What are your expectations from Doncic and the Mavs for the upcoming season?
