Jason Kidd had bizarre comments after Mavericks’ choke job

Mar 16, 2022; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd coaches against the Brooklyn Nets during the fourth quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Jason Kidd didn’t look very good during Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers … and somehow managed to look even worse afterwards.

Kidd’s Dallas Mavericks raced out to a 27-point lead over the Lakers in the first half and looked to be cruising to an easy victory at home. But they saw that lead dwindle down to 14 by halftime and then were outscored 64-47 in the second half to ultimately fall to the Lakers 111-108. The Mavs got beaten to seemingly every loose ball after the half and were cooked in the paint by the Lakers, giving up an unacceptable 62 points there. Dallas’ offense also stank to high heavens after they opened up the big lead, too often devolving into isolation play by one of Luka Doncic or Kyrie Irving on key possessions.

During his postgame press conference after the spectacular choke job, Kidd went viral for his bizarre comments.

“I’m not the savior here,” said Kidd, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “I’m not playing. I’m watching, just like you guys. As a team, we’ve got to mature … We’ve got to grow up.”

Mind you, Kidd isn’t just some Joe Schmo sitting in the stands and chowing down on a hot dog during the game. He is the literal head coach of the team and has a very direct impact on whether they win or lose. Though Kidd isn’t the one taking ill-advised shots or getting outmuscled by Anthony Davis for rebounds, he made several bad coaching decisions that might have cost the Mavs the game (such as a refusal to call timeouts that could have slowed up the Lakers’ momentum as well as an overreliance on Dwight Powell (-14 in 27 minutes) over Christian Wood (+6 in 20 minutes)).

Despite making the blockbuster trade for Irving earlier this month to give Doncic another All-NBA-caliber co-star, the 32-30 Mavs look like complete shams right now, at least when it comes to competing for a title. Quotes like that from your head coach (whose tactics have come under fire before) won’t inspire much confidence either.