I am a gigantic Stone Cold Steve Austin fan. I mean if I ever met the Texas Rattlesnake in my lifetime, no matter if I were 44 years old I'd probably cry like pre-teen girls do when they see that delightful young lady Justin Beiber.
He was my favorite wrestler, go as far as to say my hero. In wrestling good guys go bad at some point to make them more interesting, they call this a heel turn. The WWE had the audacity to do this twice. Once by aligning him with his mortal enemy Vince McMahon and another when he turned on the WWE to join the ECW/WCW faction in the hilarious Invasion storyline.
Both times I followed him even though he was a "heel", I just felt that he had his reasons and that's good enough for me.
Last week Hall of Fame point guard and recent NBA coach Jason Kidd was "traded" from the Brooklyn Nets to the Milwaukee Bucks to become their head coach.
He and general manager Billy King had a relationship that turned coldly tumultuous. Kidd was only on the job for a few months and about half of a year from shooting airballs in the playoffs for the Knicks when he suggested the Nets hire someone over Billy King because he felt King didn't know what he was doing.
King swung the Pierce/Garnett trade. A bold move that helped the Nets become contenders. I think he knew what he was doing. I don't think he knew what he was doing when he hired a coach that was way in over his head.
The history of Jason Kidd is a colorful one. He was drafted from the University of California by the Dallas Mavericks in 1994 and got a share of the Rookie of the Year with Grant Hill. He was traded to Phoenix(more on that later) and later on to New Jersey. He took a swamp of a franchise that oddly enough resided in a swamp to two straight Finals and may have been the real MVP of the 2001-02 season not Tim Duncan, no disrespect. His time in Jersey came to a close and he returned to Dallas through a trade and finally won an NBA title in 2011 albeit as a role player. He played his final year as locker room veteran leader on the Knicks helping them win the Atlantic Division before retiring and becoming the head coach of the Nets.
Now here is the colorful part.
In his first few years in Dallas he played with Jimmy Jackson with whom there was a rumored love triangle with R&B singer Toni Braxton which caused a rift between the two. Both were eventually shipped out elsewhere.
He and his wife Joumana had a physical altercation at a Taco Bell drive-thru of all places. He was ordered to take anger management classes and the two eventually divorced because she was not much of an angel either.
Byron Scott was his coach during his two trips to the Finals with the Nets. The two fell out of favor and Kidd pressured the front office to trade him or fire Scott in a classic "he goes or I go" situation. Well Scott was gone and Kidd stayed.
In came Lawrence Frank, who Kidd clicked with. They were successful early on but the departure of Kenyon Martin et al forced the Nets into a rebuild and Kidd in his latter thirties could not endure a long rebuild. Makes sense. Being that by the time that rebuild ended Kidd was their head coach and as coach pressured management to bring Frank in as an assistant, the most lavishly paid one at that, he then pressured them to oust him.
I have always loved and respected Kidd as a player. The guy recorded a ton of triple doubles as a point guard. He was a fearless leader. I feel that Kidd truly had his reasons for this move to Milwaukee.
Kidd suggested hiring a team president over King. He didn't suggest himself as first reported or anyone else for that matter. Maybe he felt that a Russian billionaire and a guy who hadn't been the most successful general manager with the Nets or 76ers could use another voice on matters of basketball operations.
Kidd was given a team expected to be among the NBA's elite as his first job. He now has reign of a team that is on the younger side and likely more open to being coached by him. Remember, he coached Kevin Garnett, a guy drafted only a year after Kidd was.
Kidd may seem like a bad guy but in reality, he, Billy King, and the Nets may all be better after this ordeal.
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