Only a few former players have made a truly successful transition into a coaching career — one of the most recent ones has been Jason Kidd, who started off as a coach for the Brooklyn Nets, only to be exiled by management and gladly welcomed by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated wrote an insightful profile piece on the Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, who, back in the day, was merely a second-year forward, and visibly upset when Kidd had banned him from taking three-pointers during his first year at the helm.
The first time Kidd benched him, Antetokounmpo was irate. “I was like, ‘Let’s see what this guy did in his career, anyway,'” Antetokounmpo recounts, and called up Kidd’s bio on his phone. “I saw Rookie of the Year, NBA championship, USA Olympic gold medal, second in assists, fifth in made threes, blah, blah, blah. I was like, ‘Jesus freaking Christ, how can I compete with that? I better zip it.'”
Kidd was right in his decision and seeing the bigger picture, as Antetokounmpo was knocking down less than a three-pointer per game during his rookie year at a 34.7 percent rate, and taking the deep ball away transformed him from a 41 percent shooter from the floor into a 49 percent one.
Kidd's NBA resume includes: 10 All-Star mentions, Rookie of the Year award (shared with Grant Hill) in 1995, nine All-NBA Defense nominations, six All-NBA selections, two Olympic gold medals, and one championship with the Dallas Mavericks, while his jersey No. 5 was retired by the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets.
His accolade-studded career speaks for itself and it doesn't get any cooler than “haven't heard about me? — google it.”
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