Jason Kidd and Lawrence Frank have not had a great relationship since Kidd became the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. The plan was for Frank to help Kidd make the difficult transition from player to head coach, but it has since backfired. Frank has been demoted to providing daily reports for the team and is no longer permitted to sit on the bench.
So what was the breaking point? For starters, Frank was reportedly angry that Kidd did not choose him to be the team’s interim coach when Kidd was serving a two-game suspension for driving while under the influence. Then, there’s also a report from NBA.com about an expletive-laden rant Kidd hurled at Frank following Brooklyn’s loss to the Orlando Magic on Nov. 3.
“Sit the (bleep) down!” Kidd reportedly said. “I’m the coach of this (13-letter word) team! When you’re on the bench, don’t (bleeping) move!”
After the outburst, coaches facing the Nets reportedly thought Frank may have been ill because he was being so quiet on the bench.
Kidd had supposedly tried to go over things one-on-one with players and had ideas that were different from Frank’s. Still, a coaching source said Frank “wouldn’t stop talking.” Frank, who is getting paid $1 million a year to be an assistant, is said to have practiced “passive-aggressive undermining” with Kidd prior to the demotion.
“You know, I don’t know,” Paul Pierce said Monday when asked about Frank, via ESPNNewYork.com. “That’s something for the coaching staff, I think. He worked hard, he did the things that they asked him to do that I thought were on the court. But obviously some behind-the-scenes things that probably went down that didn’t go well with the coaches and that’s why the decision was made.”
Whatever the case, Frank is under contract for several more years with the Nets at $1 million per season. Something will likely have to change.
