Report: Jason Kidd ‘Strong Frontrunner’ to Be Hired as Dallas Mavericks Head Coach

Report: Kidd 'strong frontrunner' to be hired as Mavericks coach originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

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Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks reportedly are close to reuniting once again.

Kidd, who spent eight seasons playing for the Mavs during two stints with the team, is the "strong frontrunner" to become the team's next head coach, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Dallas Mavericks are closing in on the hiring a new GM and Jason Kidd has emerged as a strong frontrunner to be hired as head coach, sources tell @espn_macmahon and me.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 24, 2021

Per the report, Mavs owner Mark Cuban has had conversations about coaching candidates with the new general manager the team is set to hire.

If hired, Kidd would be the successor to his former coach Rick Carlisle, who last week resigned as Mavericks head coach after 13 seasons with the team. Carlisle, after failing to get the Mavs past the first round of the playoffs since their championship season in 2011, agreed to a deal to be head coach of the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.

On the same day he joined the Pacers, Carlisle endorsed Kidd for the Mavs job.

Rick Carlisle on his Mavs: "It's hard to put an exact finger on it. It’s just a feeling that I had that it would be mutually beneficial. My hope is that Jason Kidd will be the next coach of the Mavs because he and Luka have so many things in common as players."
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) June 24, 2021

Kidd was drafted second overall by the Mavericks in 1993 and was named co-Rookie of the Year in what went on to be a Hall of Fame career. The Mavericks traded Kidd to the Phoenix Suns in 1996 and then reacquired him in a trade with the New Jersey Nets in 2008. He won a championship with the Mavs in 2011 while playing under Carlisle.

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For Kidd, an assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers the past two seasons, it would be his third head coaching position in the NBA. Kidd became head coach of the Brooklyn Nets just weeks after retiring in 2013, leading the team to a 44-38 record and the second round of the playoffs. That would be the surprising end of his stint in Brooklyn following a reported offseason power struggle where he requested, and was denied, more control within the organization.

Just over one year after being hired by the Nets, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for two second-round picks. Kidd spent three-plus seasons as coach of the Bucks, going 139-152, before being fired midway through the 2017-2018 season.

Kidd's head coaching record over five seasons is 183-190 in the regular season and 9-15 in the playoffs.