Figuratively speaking, the knives and arrows were being pulled out of Jason Kidd’s skin, one by one. Slowly. Silently.
Looking embarrassed?
Fresh off his second Western Conference finals appearance in three seasons, Kidd indicated through his words and body language late Saturday night that the sting from the media and the MFFL still lingers.
Asking a light question that gave him a chance to say, “I told you so,” Kidd took a controlled swing and opted for a double rather than a home run.
“Sometimes you have to give people time, and sometimes you don’t. [do that]”We just rush to the point where we say ‘no’ or ‘we can’t do it,’ right? Unfortunately, many of you were wrong. But that’s OK. We’ll look ahead and think about it.”
The Western Conference Finals begin Wednesday night in Minneapolis, and while the Mavericks will be looking to improve on their 2022 Western Conference Finals performance, in which they lost to Golden State in five games, Sunday was a time to rest, soak up the sun and watch the Timberwolves rally from a 20-point deficit to beat reigning champion Denver in Game 7.
When you reach the NBA Final Four, there’s good reason to savor the spectacle. And there’s reason to be grateful for the journey Kidd so often refers to. When you get to this point twice in three years and with vastly different rosters, it means at least twice as much.
And beating a No. 1 seed in the second round of both playoff games makes it even more meaningful. So imagine the perspective of Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison, Kidd and their staff after beating 57-win Oklahoma City, NBA Coach of the Year Mark Dainneault and Executive of the Year runner-up Sam Presti.
The Mavericks organization has stayed true to business in the words and actions of Drake and P.J. Washington’s immortalization, which should produce results that will silence the naysayers that have slowly faded since Harrison and Kidd were added as a package in the summer of 2021.
This will be the franchise’s sixth Western Conference Finals appearance in its 44-season history and the shortest wait to qualify: the previous waits were eight, 15, three, five and 11 years, respectively.
After winning the franchise’s only NBA championship in 2010-2011, the team’s next 10 seasons under general manager Donnie Nelson and coach Rick Carlisle resulted in six playoff appearances, zero series wins and a postseason record of 10-24.
In three seasons under Harrison/Kidd, Dallas made two postseason appearances, won four series and finished with a postseason record of 17-13.
“We had to build a culture,” Kidd said. “I’m not blaming Rick. Rick did the best he could with the guys he had. But when we got here, the defense was great the first year, and then the offense came on. We had to learn what it meant to win.”
“Last year was a team-building year. You can’t win every year. That doesn’t happen in sports. But I thought Nico has done a great job this summer and since he’s been here and put the team together.”
As for Kidd’s coaching ability, Carlisle led Indiana to a Game 7 victory at Madison Square Garden on Sunday to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. The Mavericks and Pacers are likely underdogs in their own series, but a Kidd-Carlisle or Mavericks-Pacers NBA Finals is realistic.
Only five players remain from the 2022 WCF Mavericks team: Luka Doncic, Josh Green, Tim Hardaway Jr., Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell.
Fans had been clamoring for Mavericks management to back Doncic for much of the 2022-23 season. The midseason acquisition of Kyrie Irving gave Doncic a co-star, but the Mavericks went 5-11 in games the pair played together and missed the playoffs.
“When you have two talented players, I think they work well together,” Harrison said in his exit interview after that “disappointing” season. “I think it’s really about the players around them. I think the players around them understand the role of having two guys on the court at the same time. I think that’s something we need to work on.”
He did his job, starting with the team’s decision to sit out the final two games of last season, allowing Dallas to improve its chances of retaining a protected top-10 pick instead of sending it to New York to complete the Kristaps Porzingis trade.
With the 10th overall pick, Harrison sent it and Davis Bertans to Oklahoma City on draft night to, ironically, move down to No. 12. With that pick, the Mavericks selected Derek Lively II, who outplayed the Thunder with 12 points and 15 rebounds in Game 6 of the championship series on Saturday.
“I was really happy to see him. [20 years old]”He played great in the playoffs,” Doncic said. “It’s unbelievable. He’s a rookie and he’s done this. He has incredible potential. I’m happy the Mavs drafted him.”
Harrison’s summer restructuring also included the bargain acquisitions of future starter Derrick Jones Jr. ($2.7 million) and sometimes-valued backup Dante Exum ($3 million).
And, of course, at this season’s trade deadline, Harrison acquired P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, the latter with a first-round draft pick that Dallas acquired in a 2028 draft pick swap with Oklahoma City.
This time last year, Mavericks fans were fretting about whether free agent Irving would sign with another team and whether Doncic would seek a trade before his contract expires after the 2025-26 season.
Those concerns are now a thing of the past.
“It’s massive,” Doncic said of the franchise’s efforts to restructure around him over the past three seasons. “You see this team’s been together for about five months now. I think we can do more. Big trades, big adjustments, we’ll keep doing it.”
Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont acquired a majority stake in the Mavericks from Mark Cuban in late December and rewarded Kidd with a contract extension on the eve of a series against Oklahoma City.
Nothing has been announced about Harrison, whose original contract was for four years like Kidd’s, but it would be hard to understand why an extension wouldn’t be done if it hasn’t already been done.
Harrison said. news He said last month that Kidd and his staff deserve a lot of credit for blending and getting the most out of Doncic and Irving’s skill sets and creating a winning culture.
That culture has got Dallas back to the conference finals, a culture that began when he was drafted No. 2 overall in 1993 and has Kidd’s imprint all over it, returning as a steady veteran point guard during the 2011 championship run.
Kidd, the 10th manager in franchise history, is currently the only Dallas manager with multiple conference finals appearances and, when counted with his time as a player, will have appeared in half of the franchise’s six conference finals on Wednesday.
“Our goal is to win a championship. That’s what we’re trying to do, but sometimes the reporters don’t see that,” Kidd said of reporters. “And that’s OK. You have to do your job. We don’t really care about that.”
“That’s the beauty of our culture. We don’t get swayed by anything negatively written about us. We just go out there and play for each other. And that’s how you win championships.”
“Hopefully at the end of my time here I’ll have another trophy in my hands. I’ve got the opportunity here. It’s incredible. But it’s hard. The hardest thing in professional sports is to win a championship.”
Scars from knives and arrows, whether recognized or not, don’t make the journey any easier, but they certainly toughen one’s skin — just ask the 51-year-old who’s returned to his sixth NBA Final Four as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
“I love this culture,” Kidd said. “It’s a great challenge as a coach. Win or lose, I trust these guys and I believe in them. That’s what’s great about the Mavs right now.”
Fall No.1
In their 44-season history, the Mavericks are 3-7 against No. 1-seeded teams in the playoffs, but 2-0 under coach Jason Kidd. In terms of seeding, this is No. 5 seed Dallas’ biggest upset of a top seed; the Mavericks were No. 4 seeds the other two times they beat a No. 1 seed.
| Year | Mavs Record/Seed | Opponents/Record | round | result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 50-32/5 | Oklahoma City/57-25 | The second | Victory 4-2 |
| 2022 | 52-30/4 | Suns/64-18 | The second | Victory 4-3 |
| 2014 | 49-33/8 | Spurs/62-20 | First place | 4-3 Ray 4-3 |
| 2006 | 60-22/4 | Spurs/62-20 | The second | Victory 4-3 |
| 2005 | 58-24/4 | Suns/62-20 | The second | 4-2 Ray 4-2 |
| 2003 | 60-22/4 | Spurs/60-22 | 3rd place | 4-3 Ray 4-3 |
| 2002 | 57-25/4 | Kings/61-21 | The second | Lost 4-1 |
| 2001 | 53-29/5 | Spurs/58-24 | The second | Lost 4-1 |
| 1988 | 52-29/3 | Lakers/58-24 | The second | 4-3 Ray 4-3 |
| 1986 | 44-38/4 | Lakers/62-20 | The second | L4-2 |
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