Cal Basketball: Don't Expect the L.A. Clippers to Hire Jason Kidd as Head Coach

Cal's Hall of Fame point guard may get a shot in New Orleans; the Clippers unlikely

If Jason Kidd wins an NBA championship in Los Angeles, it seems far more likely that it will happen this season with the Lakers than next year with the Clippers.

The Hall of Famer and Cal icon is an assistant coach with the Lakers, who will face the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, beginning Wednesday.

The Lakers and LeBron James are favorites, giving J-Kidd the chance to add a championship ring to the one he claimed as a player with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011.

Across town, the Clippers are looking for a new coach after parting ways Monday with Doc Rivers following a second-round playoff meltdown. One of the favorites to win the title this season, the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets and fell short of even reaching the Western Conference finals.

Of course, every coaching change triggers an onslaught of stories speculating who will be the next man.

This is not that story. Instead, we are speculating about who will not be the Clippers’ next coach. And that’s Kidd.

The stories fishing for who’s next pretty much all begin with Tyronn Lue, an assistant with the Clippers who won a championship with LeBron and the Cavaliers and directed Cleveland to three straight Finals.

Former Knicks coach and current ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy is being mentioned a lot. Sam Cassell, another Clippers assistant who won three NBA titles as a player, is a possibility.

Mike D’Antoni is an available big name. But he couldn’t get a talented Houston Rockets team to the Finals and his style of play might not a good fit with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz, in an exhaustive story, lists Juwan Howard, Mark Jackson, Charles Lee, Wes Unseld Jr., Kenny Atkinson; Chris Finch, Jarron Collins, Dave Joerger, Mike Brown, Darvin Ham, Adrian Griffin, Brian Keefe, Pat Delany and Steve Hetzel as potential candidates.

Neither CBS Sports nor the Sporting News even mentions Kidd,

Kidd does have a few folks in his corner.

Gary Payton told NBA TV that owner Steve Ballmer should pick between Kidd and Lue. Of course, Payton and Kidd are old pals from Oakland.

Frank Vincent of Yardbarker offered this on Kidd:

Embattled during his tenure as the Nets' and Bucks’ head coach, Kidd still led the two teams to three playoff appearances in five seasons. He’s seen as a player-friendly coach, something that could work well with George and Leonard. It’s also important to note that Kidd is not afraid of the bright lights considering his Hall-of-Fame performance as a player. Just some food for thought.

ESPN’s Arnovitz provided this evaluation of the former superstar point guard:

After two rocky stints in Brooklyn and Milwaukee, Jason Kidd has received favorable reviews as an assistant under Frank Vogel for the Lakers. He's eager for another chance as a head coach and will likely have opportunities to make a pitch to owners and execs in the near future.

Kidd may be a more serious candidate with the New Orleans Pelicans than the Clippers.

He was mentioned over the summer in connection with the New York Knicks’ vacancy before the franchise hired Tom Thibodeau. Jonathan Macri of Sports Illustrated’s All Knicks site took this closer look at Kidd during the hiring process.

With Leonard and George able to become free agents after the 2020-21 season, Ballmer faces great urgency to hire a coach he believes can get the Clippers over the top right now.

He’ll want someone who meshes well with his star players, which could work in Kidd’s favor. He had a strong relationship in Milwaukee with star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who offered to go to bat for Kidd after the Bucks fired him.

But Ballmer also may require a championship coaching pedigree, and Kidd does not check that box. To be fair, neither the Nets nor Bucks had championship-quality rosters, but Kidd’s 9-15 record in three playoff appearances doesn’t offer any promises.

Kidd seems likely to become a head coach again, someday, somewhere. Probably just not now and not with the L.A. Clippers.

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*** Reporter Farbod Esnaashaari of Sports Illustrated's All Clippers discusses the team's hiring plans:

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Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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