3 NBA coaches who could be on the hot seat with a playoff collapse
By Ian Levy
2. Jason Kidd
To be fair, Jason Kidd may not even make the playoffs. And it might not even take a playoff collapse to seal his fate — a surprising postseason appearance and playoff run could still very reasonably end with Luka Doncic expressing his dissatisfaction at the direction of the team and forcing Mark Cuban’s hand.
Kidd has been a mess all season long — struggling with rotations, running belligerent postgame press conferences and deflecting blame at nearly every turn. He’s thoroughly alienated Christian Wood, done nothing to help the Kyrie Irving and Doncic pairing work, basically looking out of his depth but refusing to admit it. He also has a history of burning out and ruining a relationship with a young star, from his time with Giannis and the Bucks.
Luka Doncic is the one thing the Mavs still have going in their favor and everything needs to be done to keep him happy, protect his health and develop a coherent structure around him. Kidd has failed on every level this season, he’s just a loaded camel’s back, waiting for that final straw.