Mark Cuban: “I wouldn’t put J-Kidd’s Number in the Rafters”
By Josh Hill
The NBA seems to be a game of loyalty. You don’t hear many football fans up in arms when their favorite player heads to another team. The closest thing to that was when Brett Favre jumped ship from the Green Bay Packers to the Minnesota Vikings. But it seems any time an NBA player packs up and moves on, there’s a rash of backlash form somewhere.
And the rule doesn’t just apply to superstars like Dwight Howard, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. Jason Kidd moving from Dallas to New York didn’t go unnoticed by Mavericks owner and renowned hot-head Mark Cuban.
On an appearance on the “Ben & Skin Show” in Dallas, Cuban was asked about the Mavericks offseason, one that saw them miss out on Deron Williams and lost Jason Kidd — both to New York franchises.
Cuban didn’t seem upset at all that Dallas swung and missed on Williams, citing the teams salary and luxury tax as justification for not signing the All-Star. But when Jason Kidd leaving was brought up, Cuban went off on the long time Maverick. Not only did Cuban not sound like he’d be inviting Kidd over anytime soon for a hot meal, but he went as far as to say some serious time would have to go by before even even considered retiring Jason Kidd’s number.
“I was more than upset. I thought he was coming. I was pissed. J-Kidd is a big boy; he can do whatever he wants. But you don’t change your mind like that. That was … yeah. I’m sure I’ll get over it at some point, but as of now, I wouldn’t put J-Kidd’s number in the rafters.”
The reason for Cuban’s anger with Kidd revolves around the fact that Kidd backed out of signing a 3-year, $9 million contract the morning after it was drawn up. The worst part was, Kidd accepted virtually the same deal to play in New York and at the time it appeared he be playing behind Jeremy Lin.
“It hurt my feelings, period, because I felt that we had developed a relationship, and I thought that he was committed to the organization. It sure seemed that he was. I mean, J-Kidd was active in going out there and talking to Deron Williams the whole time. I guess it was more shocking and surprising than anything else.”
The bad blood won’t take long to boil over, as in the first month of the season, the Mavericks and Knicks play each other twice with Kidd returning to Dallas on November 21st.
Is Cuban overreacting, perhaps. The NBA is a game that revolves around loyalty, so it’s really up to the fans do decide.