Dallas Mavericks Coach Jason Kidd Moving Closer To The Pat Riley Realm

In 2011, Jason Kidd helped the Dallas Mavericks get the best of Pat Riley and the Miami Heat.

Now, Kidd has a chance to be linked with Riley again.

If Kidd can lead the Mavericks past the Boston Celtics, he will become the fifth to win an NBA title as a player and coach with the same organization. The Mavs and Celtics open the series in Game 1 Thursday in Boston.

The others in this prestigious group are Riley (Los Angeles Lakers), Bill Russell (Celtics), Billy Cunningham (Philadelphia 76ers) and K.C. Jones (Celtics). It was only 13 years ago when Kidd was helping the Mavs upset the Heat in the Finals. That Heat team was led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Kidd averaged 7.7 points, 6.3 assists and 4.5 rebounds in the series.

Now, he is close to joining rare company and more proving himself as a coach.

After stops with the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, he's had the most success with the Mavericks. This was his second 50-win season, including 52 when they lost to the eventual champion Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals.

With Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the Mavs have every opportunity to knock off the Celtics. It won't be easy because the Celtics won a league-high 64 games behind the three-headed tandem of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis.

It doesn't help the Celtics are well-rested after cruising through the Eastern Conference. They lost just two games in the first three rounds.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day NBA. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com