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Did Jason Kidd deserve this or was he the fall guy? The numbers tell a brutal story originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Jason Kidd is no longer the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks after five seasons with the franchise. Dallas announced Tuesday that both sides agreed to part ways, ending a run that included a trip to the NBA Finals and one of the most chaotic stretches in recent team history.
At first glance, the move looks understandable. The Mavericks just finished 26-56 and missed the playoffs again. Kidd also had three losing seasons during his time in Dallas.
But the deeper numbers tell a more complicated story.
Kidd finished with a 205-205 regular-season record and a 22-18 playoff mark in Dallas. He led the Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals in 2022 and then to the NBA Finals in 2024. He also produced two 50-win seasons during a period where the Western Conference remained loaded with contenders.
That resume does not usually belong to a coach pushed out only two years after reaching the Finals.
The biggest shift came after the Luka Doncic trade in early 2025. Before that move, Dallas looked stable. Kidd had built an offense around Doncic that consistently kept the Mavericks competitive in the West.
After the trade, everything changed.
The Mavericks struggled both on the court and within the organization. Nico Harrison lost his job, and fans were unhappy. Injuries also hurt the team. The Anthony Davis addition didn't work out, and Dallas quickly went from a contender to a lottery team.
Even though Kidd repeatedly denied having a major role in the Doncic trade, he still became attached to the fallout. Reuters reported that his popularity in Dallas suffered heavily after the franchise moved on from its superstar.
That is what makes Kidd’s firing difficult to judge fairly.
During his time as coach, there were valid complaints. The Dallas team struggled to be consistent and often relied too much on Doncic to lead the offense. After their appearance in the Finals, the team could not keep up the same level of play.
Kidd coached through constant instability, as ownership and the front office changed frequently. The roster changed often, too. Eventually, the franchise traded away the player who had shaped the entire system.
Former majority owner Mark Cuban sounded conflicted when reacting to the decision.
“Obviously I'm a jkidd fan. So I'm surprised and disappointed.” Cuban later added, “But we have to give masai a chance to see what happens. He has been through this before.”
Those comments may quietly explain the real reason behind Kidd’s exit.
New president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri was hired to reset the organization after the collapse of the Luka Doncic era. Ujiri has a history of making major changes when taking control of a franchise, even after successful seasons.
That makes Kidd’s firing feel less like a simple basketball decision and more like part of a complete organizational restart.
The Mavericks may not believe Jason Kidd was entirely responsible for what happened. But after the most controversial trade in franchise history, someone was always going to pay the price.
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