Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd wasn’t a name anyone was expecting to be part of coaching rumors in the 2026 offseason, but the status of the legendary point guard as Mavs coach might be in jeopardy. The franchise chose to pass on Kidd as the new Team President and hired former Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets President Masai Ujiri in a bid to transform the franchise for the Cooper Flagg era.
Kidd has a long resume as an NBA head coach, going back to his first job as the head coach for the Brooklyn Nets in 2013. During his rookie coaching season, Kidd coached the Nets against the Raptors during Ujiri’s first season as the team’s GM.
During that game in April 2014, Ujiri was overheard saying ‘F— Brooklyn,’ a comment that coach Kidd took issue with by sending a blunt and dismissive statement about the man who’s now his boss in Dallas.
“You have to tell me who the GM is,” Kidd said. “I don’t even know who that is, so I could [not] care less what they think about Brooklyn. We have a job to do, and that’s to play the game of basketball.”
Given the circumstances both coach and GM were under at the time, Kidd might have made a genuine statement about him not knowing who the Raptors GM was at that time. It was Masai’s first season with the franchise, and one would anyway struggle to find an NBA head coach who could name the GM or Team President of all 30 teams in the league.
Kidd was dismissed by the Nets with a 44-38 coaching record after one season. He will need to find a way to convince Ujiri that he’s the right man for the job over the next few months. Ujiri refused to confirm if Kidd’s job was safe when asked about the same during his introductory press conference with the Mavericks on Tuesday.
“I had a conversation with Jason Kidd yesterday, and I will meet with (him). He’s a Hall of Fame player who has done a great job, but we’re going to look at it from head-to-toe. That’s the right way to look at an organization and evaluate it in every single way that we can. I talked to him, and I will hear his thoughts on where he sees us.”
Ujiri definitely won’t make his decision based on this erroneous comment from Kidd 12 years ago. The coach was defending the city and organization he was representing, which is completely understandable.
Kidd is a Mavericks legend for his role in their 2011 NBA Championship win. But as a coach, Kidd has missed the Playoffs thrice (2023, 2025, 2026) in this time and was greatly boosted by the presence of Luka Doncic in the Mavericks’ run to the 2022 Western Conference Finals and 2024 NBA Finals. Outside of that, his coaching resume hasn’t been impressive. He has a 205-205 record as the Mavericks head coach.
After leaving the Nets, Kidd joined the Milwaukee Bucks and was considered instrumental in the development of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Coach Kidd used a similar development plan with Cooper Flagg last season, forcing the 6’9″ forward to be a ball-handler and playmaker, mirroring what he made Giannis do during his time with the Bucks.
Unfortunately, Kidd’s coaching resume in Milwaukee wasn’t too great either. He did help the franchise return to the Playoffs, but had a 139-152 record over his four seasons as their head coach. He didn’t get another head coaching role until he joined the Mavericks in 2021, spending two seasons under Frank Vogel on the Lakers and winning an NBA title during that tenure.
The first order of business for Ujiri will be to see what pick the team ends up with in the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery. However, if he does intend to hire a new head coach who matches his philosophy, Kidd will likely not be able to do anything to stop that.
