In the regular season, the average NBA rotation is 9-of-10 players deep. The rest of the guys are waiting for garbage time, then getting in a postgame workout.
Not for the Mavericks Tuesday, Jason Kidd played all 15 players who suited up. He did so because the players’ leadership council — a group of players who brings things to the coach — asked him too, Kidd told reporters after the game. Here’s the quote, via Doyle Rader at Mavs Moneyball:
“All 15 guys played. If we could have played the two-way [players], we would have played them too,” Kidd told reporters after the game. “This came to me this morning through the council that we have. Those players that I talked to thought this was a great idea. So, I was with it.
“We always talk about 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 as part of the team and they tend not to get to play, but they come to work everyday like the starters or the rotation guys,” Kidd added. “I think this shows what kind of character, what kind of guys we have in that locker room, which is really, really cool.”
There weren’t a lot of minutes to go around for everybody, Frank Ntilikina and Trey Burke each only played three minutes, for example, but they got on the court. For guys who can go weeks without game action, that little bit matters.
The leadership council is reportedly made up of Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr.
It worked, the Mavericks pulled away in the second half for a 116-106 victory. The bench pitched in with Reggie Bullock scoring 16 and Boban Marjanovic adding 11.
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Kidd played all 15 Mavericks against Rockets at request of team’s leadership council originally appeared on NBCSports.com