How Jason Kidd Changed Mavs Culture
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In a surprisingly deep playoff run, the Dallas Mavericks advanced to the Western Conference Finals last season after not even being able to get past the first round in the previous 11 years.
One key reason for the team's success – aside from having a perennial All-NBA First Team talent in Luka Doncic – was hiring coach Jason Kidd. Before coming to Dallas, Kidd struggled to find his coaching identity. He was traded by the Brooklyn Nets after just one season as head coach and fired by the Milwaukee Bucks during his fourth season.
Kidd would go to to become an assistant for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2019, where he won his first championship as a coach.
During his first year coaching in Dallas, the Mavs reached the 50-win mark by finishing with a 52-30 record, something they hadn't done since the 2014-2015 season. The Mavs also morphed into a top-five defensive team, which was a night-and-day difference from what had become the norm in recent years.
So just how important has Kidd been to the culture change in Dallas? The Athletic's Tim Cato gave his two cents on that topic, as he discussed Kidd's impact on Doncic and the rest of the roster. Kidd has been able to relate to Doncic on a level that former coach Rick Carlisle just wasn't capable of doing.
"Honestly I believe much of the culture comes from coaching staff," Cato wrote. "Kidd holds respect for his Hall-of-Fame career but has also deeply changed his coaching approach – his human approach, even – from previous stops."
Recently, Kidd added former NBA player Marko Milic to his staff. Milic was the first Slovenian player in the league and was seen as an asset, not only due to his ability to relate to players on a personal level, but also because of his connection with Doncic and relationship with Kidd – Milic and Kidd were teammates on the Phoenix Suns in the late 90s.
Kidd is no stranger to adding former basketball players to his staff, as he added Jared Dudley and three-time WNBA All-Star Kristi Toliver last summer. Not to mention, Kidd retained Darrell Armstrong and God Shammgod as assistants as well.
"Leadership and culture can come from many places, and every tenured member of a franchise’s traveling party — particularly those with authority," Cato added. "I think there’s real value in a culture that’s built more from the bottom up rather than being dictated from the top."
Cato believes Kidd's cultural impact, "was the most impressive thing witnessed last season, more than any deep playoff run or on-court performance."
Kidd's first season in Dallas exceeds expectations, and there's no reason to believe he can't continue to keep his team trending in the right direction. The question will be, can he repeat or even exceed the same level of success in his second season after the Mavs lost their second-best player over the summer?
You can follow Lorenzo Almanza on Twitter at @LorenzoAlmanza2.
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