Larry Sanders Says Jason Kidd Is A Better Coach Than Player

Milwaukee Bucks center Larry Sanders may need to have his goggles cleaned.

When Jason Kidd became the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks and said he was going to try things like playing Giannis Antetokounmpo at point guard, the internet did a collective…

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In his first season with the Brooklyn Nets, Kidd was known for experimenting with unique lineups. He helped spark an aging, over-paid roster to a 44-38 record and a playoff birth. After a failed power play in the offseason, Kidd was shipped to Milwaukee, where he took over as head coach of a sad Bucks franchise.

So Kidd starts from scratch, with plenty of young ingredients to cook with. However, those players might be a little too young.

"“He’s a great coach. As good as a player he was, I think he’s a better coach,” Larry Sanders said. “He really knows how to run a team. He’s putting all of us in a position to be successful.”"

Via Mary Stevens, for BasketballInsiders.com.

Uh, what?

When I read this, I almost slammed by laptop shut. Kidd led the New Jersey Nets to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. In the 2002-03 season, he averaged 18.7 points and 8.9 assists per game and took a team whose second-best player was Kenyon Martin to the NBA Finals. Sanders (25 years old now) was 14 years old. I get that he’s young, but that’s no excuse. I mean, I’m 23 and still remember how good Kidd was.

Kidd is a sure-fire Hall of Famer as a basketball player, and the jury is still out if he’s even a good coach.

Look, I like Kidd the coach a lot. He throws a lot of conventional wisdom out the window–for better or worse–and does his own thing. He’s embraced analytics and spreading the floor and he experiments with fun lineups in a way that helped boost the Nets last season and have made the Bucks watchable this season. But, by no means, is he a better coach than player. That goes without saying, right?

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