The New York Knicks fired head coach Tom Thibodeau despite a run to the Eastern Conference Finals and back-to-back 50-win seasons for the first time in 30 years. It was a head-scratching move for many people, but apparently, a few top players weren’t pleased with the coaching direction of the team.
A name that was immediately connected with the Knicks was Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, who ended his playing career in New York for the 2012-13 season. The Knicks were expected to show serious interest in the former star point guard, but Kidd is under contract and it didn’t seem likely that there’d be much interest from his side.
READ MORE: Analyst slams Mavericks fit with Anthony Davis
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon that while Jason Kidd isn’t particularly looking for a new opportunity, but he hasn’t exactly been pleased with everything the Mavericks have done recently.
“I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I know or even think that J-Kidd wants out of Dallas, that would be going way too far. What I can comfortably say is there’s certainly have been decisions, major franchise decisions that have been made that he was not on board with, one of which includes the firing of [former head athletic trainer] Casey Smith, who J-Kidd has been extremely tight with since his second tenure as a player in Dallas, who is now running the health and performance group for the New York Knicks…
“He loves Kyrie [Irving], he loves AD [Anthony Davis], I think there is confidence that the Mavericks can be a very good team again next season. They’ve got to figure out a starting lead guard situation for the first at least half of the season, then a guy who can still play a key role, they’ve got ideas there. I think it would be way too far to hint, suggest, or any of that that J-Kidd is looking to get out of Dallas.”
Nico Harrison’s dismissal of Casey Smith ruffled a lot of feathers in the organization, including Dirk Nowitzki, who hasn’t wanted to associate with the Mavs much recently, especially since they traded away Luka Doncic. If Kidd wants to work with Casey Smith again, he certainly could have the opportunity.
READ MORE: Mavericks trade $175 million superstar in blockbuster idea
Stick with MavericksGameday for more FREE coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the offseason
Follow MavericksGameday on Twitter and Austin Veazey on Twitter
