Jason Kidd has been a maligned coach throughout his coaching tenure, with stints with the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks not ending well. He admitted to ESPN’s Tim McMahon that he was still learning how to coach, and that it wasn’t until he was on Frank Vogel’s LA Lakers team where they won a championship together that he really learned how to put it all together. Now that he has some high-profile figures leading the Dallas Mavericks, Dallas believes they have the perfect coach for their situation.

McMahon talked about many things about Kidd in his article Thursday morning, but the biggest revelation was how much he is adored by his players and that puts him in a unique situation to lead the Mavs.

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Kyrie Irving had a disappointing end to his tenure with the Boston Celtics and Nets and was considered a toxic character in the locker room. When the Mavs traded him for pennies on the dollar, no one believed it would work out well and that Luka Doncic would soon be asking for a trade.

By all accounts, Irving was an exemplary teammate, and that has a lot to do with his relationship with Jason Kidd, who was one of Irving’s favorite players growing up in New Jersey. According to McMahon, when Irving was with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he sought out Kidd for dinner in Phoenix, with Irving asking every question he could think of.

“Kai is a special guy,” Kidd told ESPN’s Tim McMahon. “He wants to understand the game at the highest level, wants to be supported at the highest level. And I don’t think he’s afraid of failure. You can learn from that. Kai wants to be supported in winning a championship.

The two brainguards maintained a connection afterward, and Irving even attended Kidd’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and it was a big reason why Irving succeeded in Dallas.

Assistant coach Jared Dudley, who played for Kidd in Milwaukee, praised how Kidd handled the situation, telling McMahon: “I’ll be honest with you, there are only two or three coaches in the league that have the seal of approval and have the personality. “Being able to train Luka and Kyrie at the same time and not have any problems… They haven’t heard anything in the last few places he’s been since he’s been in Dallas. Do you think that’s fair? Dallas, or do you think 80% has to do with Jason Kidd?”

This relationship with Irving and the restoration of his image was a big reason the team was able to convince Klay Thompson to leave the Golden State Warriors and go to Dallas. They let Kyrie Irving be himself, and after a stressful few years in the Bay Area, Thompson believes the same thing will happen to him.

With the season starting Thursday night against the San Antonio Spurs, expectations in Dallas haven’t been this high in a long time, and Kidd deserves a lot of credit for leading the superstars the way he did.

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