Mavericks' Jason Kidd Still Feeling Need to Defend Himself Over Cooper Flagg Decision

Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd caught a lot of criticism for playing Cooper Flagg at point guard early in the season. Flagg was struggling with all of the eyes on him, the team was losing games, and the offense just looked out of sorts.

Flagg went back to the wing after a few weeks, then returned to the point guard role over the last few months. He's had more offensive success, but the team is still losing a lot of games (somewhat on purpose). Kidd is still adamant this is what's best for Flagg's career, though.

“I’ve seen it before. A lot of people haven’t seen it,” Kidd said to Marc J. Spears. “People who are critical never played or [had] never seen it. I’ve seen it. Saw it in Milwaukee. Giannis [Antetokounmpo] is Giannis. People might have been critical there, too. If you’re challenging or trying to change or help someone become successful, there are going to be critics. You need critics because critics are not always right. That’s just the nature of the beast.

“But it’s basketball. There’s no more positions. What’s your skill set? Can you handle it? If you can handle it, you can play. KD [Kevin Durant] got the ball early in his career. Was [then-Seattle SuperSonics head coach] P. J. Carlesimo criticized for it? Yeah? Maybe. You have to go back and look, but it worked out.”

Kidd used a similar thought process with Antetokounmpo while they were together with the Milwaukee Bucks, and it helped Antetokounmpo develop into an MVP, but not while Kidd was there. In fact, the Bucks never won more than 42 games with Kidd as the head coach, and winning games is what matters.

Cooper Flagg's Ceiling May Be Limitless, but Mavs Have to Win

“There’s no bar. There is no limit on this young man,” Kidd also said to Spears. “Time and strength. Once he gets those two, it’s over.”

However, the Mavericks don't have a lot of time to be successful. There is pressure to get back to winning ways after the disastrous Luka Doncic trade was made with winning in mind (insert eyeroll here). And they have done very little of that since last February.

Part of that is injury luck. Kyrie Irving tore his ACL last March and decided to sit out this season to fully recover, especially with the team tanking. Anthony Davis only played in 20 games this season before he was traded.

Once Irving comes back next season and they add another young lottery talent, the Mavs will have to be competitive throughout all of next season. Otherwise, it could cost Jason Kidd his job.

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