LeBron James Thinks Jason Kidd Will Have Success as Brooklyn Nets Coach
By Josh Sanchez
While many are questioning the Brooklyn Nets decision to name Jason Kidd, who retired from playing just a week ago, as the new head coach, there is one NBA superstar who is a fan of the move. When Miami Heat star LeBron James was speaking to the media after his team’s Game 4 win in the NBA Finals, he made it clear that he was a believer in Kidd as a coach and he thinks that he will find success in Brooklyn.
“I think it’s amazing, honestly,” he said, via NBA Sports. “J-Kidd is unbelievable, one of the best teammates I ever played with — on the ’08 Olympic team, he was one of the best friends I would have, on and off the floor.
“He’s a student of the game. His basketball IQ is crazy and I think it’s going to make it an easy transition for him to be a coach. It’s a great thing for him.”
While LeBron thinks that Kidd will have great success, he understands that there will be a transition period like there is with any change in life.
“It’s going to be a transition, but I don’t know,” James said. “He doesn’t know. It’s the first time for him, but it was the same with Mark Jackson. He had never patrolled the sideline either, but look at the great work he’s done in Golden State. You play the game and you’re smart, I think it can make the transition much easier for you. And he’s not inheriting a bad team, he’s inheriting a good team. So that makes the job easier, too.”
If Kidd can have the type of success that LeBron believes he can have, then the Nets made a great hire. It’s clear that the Nets see the same qualities in Kidd as a coach that LeBron sees, so there is obviously something there.
It is just a matter of how long it will take Kidd to make the full transition and how much time the Nets are willing to give him.
You never know. Maybe one day LeBron will go play for Kidd.