When considering the news that the Milwaukee Bucks fired Jason Kidd as their head coach Monday afternoon, it’s important to remember how Kidd came to have the job in the first place.
Four years ago, Kidd went to Brooklyn Nets ownership and asked for complete control of basketball operations, shortly after a tumultuous first year as coach. When that request was denied, the Bucks — then and currently co-owned by a long time Kidd confidant, Marc Lasry — called the next day and asked for permission to interview him.
It was an audacious move as Kidd skipped town, leading to plenty of salacious headlines in the New York tabloids. But it also was a reminder of something else: Every stop of Kidd’s remarkable basketball journey over the past 25 years — from the University of California to the four teams he played for during his Hall of Fame career — ended with one burned bridge after another in his wake.
It should come as no surprise that his ending in Milwaukee followed the same script.
Regardless of the timing of the move, the tensions between Kidd and the franchise had been building for months.
There were issues between Kidd and Jabari Parker, who is expected to return from his second torn anterior cruciate ligament in early February and whom the Bucks hope will be able to become the second star alongside MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo. There were issues with Kidd and upper management, with Kidd constantly pushing for moves to change the roster and harping on its lack of experience.
None of that factors in some of the weird in-game decisions Kidd has made recently, like his decision to foul while up four in the final seconds of one game, and then to intentionally miss a free throw while up three in the final seconds of another. The Bucks still won both games, but it made for odd scenes as Kidd tried to explain his rationale both times.
In short, the Bucks decided they needed a change in the environment around the team. As one source put it, “The culture wasn’t right.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2018/01/22/jason-kidd-fired-by-milwaukee-bucks-after-months-of-rising-tensions/?utm_term=.b38983e2ef34
![User avatar](https://i.imgur.com/mfOUkwG.png" alt="https://i.imgur.com/mfOUkwG.png)
