Brooklyn Nets: Jason Kidd Shouldn’t Be First Head Coaching Option

Jason Kidd’s lack of experience as a coach in the NBA should have the Brooklyn Nets looking elsewhere. (Photo Credit: Bridgetds, Flickr.com)

Unless you live under a rock, you’re aware that ex-New Jersey Net Jason Kidd has expressed interest in the Brooklyn Nets’ head coaching vacancy following his retirement in the NBA.

Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news via Twitter on Sunday:

Kidd spent six complete seasons with the Nets from 2001-07 and played most of the 2007-08 campaign with New Jersey before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks.

Under Kidd’s guidance at point guard, the Nets appeared in back-to-back NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and ’03 but were ousted by more talented Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs teams.

Growing up, most Nets fans like myself idolized Kidd and hoped he would be the one to bring a championship to New Jersey, but that never happened.

Jason Kidd was the man for the New Jersey Nets on the court for years. Can he be the man on the bench as head coach? (Flickr.com photo by John Maynard)

Nonetheless, Kidd had quite the NBA career, being voted co-Rookie of the Year in 1995, earning 10 All-Star appearances and helping the Mavericks win a title in 2011.

Does that resume equate to him being a successful coach with the Nets?

That remains to be seen, but Wojnarowski did report that Kidd did have a successful meeting with the Brooklyn brass:

I don’t doubt that Kidd will make a great head coach some day, but that time is not now.

Nets’ owner Mikhail Prokhorov wants to win now and that’s clearly evident with the amount of money he’s doling out to Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace.

Kidd would be better off serving as an assistant to a veteran coach for a couple of seasons, gaining experience that way and then making the switch to head coach.

Still wondering the biggest reason why I don’t think Kidd should be Brooklyn’s No. 1 option for head coach?

His name is Brian Shaw.

Brian Shaw should be the ideal candidate for the vacant head coaching position in Brooklyn. (Photo courtesy of The White House Office of the Press Secretary via http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brian_Shaw.jpg#file)

Shaw has become one of the most respected and talented assistant coaches in the NBA, most notably because of his work with the Lakers and Indiana Pacers. Having learned under one of the greatest coaches in NBA history in Phil Jackson, Shaw should be the ideal candidate for the Nets.

Overall, he’s a five-time NBA champion (three as a player and two as a coach) and has more experience in the coaching department than Kidd.

Brooklyn has interest in Shaw, but they’re not the only team, according to Nets Daily.

When you think about it, the Nets would be crazy not to bring Shaw in above Kidd for the simple fact that Shaw is a proven winner and has experience and success at the coaching level.

I see the symbolism in Kidd returning the Nets and attempting to clinch the title that he was never able to deliver as a player while with them, but Shaw is the better fit right now, and USA Today NBA Insider Sam Amick provides hope for Shaw in Brooklyn:

Again, I’ll reiterate.

Further down the line, I think J-Kidd has the potential to be a quality coach in the NBA—after all, he was the coach on the court for every team he played for—but I’d like to see him get some more experience under his belt before taking over a team full of stars like the Nets.

The Nets are built to win right now—Kidd isn’t.

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