The Dallas Mavericks officially announced Jason Kidd as its new head coach on Monday afternoon.
The former Mavs point guard who helped lead the club to its lone NBA World Championship in 2011, is making his third attempt as head coach. He previously coached the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. He had been an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers since 2019.
There wasn’t much reaction to the news from league stars, except for a few notable exceptions.
LeBron James lamented losing Kidd from the Lakers’ bench but wished him well in a Twitter post on Friday when the news first broke.
“Damn I hate to lose JKidd man but damn I’m happy for him at the same time! Good luck Kidd!” James said.
On Monday, after Mavs made it officials, Lakers owner and team president Jeanie Buss applauded the hire by Mavs owner Mark Cuban.
“Jason — Congratulations on the @dallasmavs job,” Buss posted on Twitter. “We all appreciated the work you did to help bring @Lakers #17!! We wish the best but will compete hard on the court. And to @mcuban — well done.”
Kidd thanked the Lakers and Buss “for the last two years and the opportunity to grow as a coach,” he said. “Our championship season was unforgettable. Thrilled to return to the @dallasmavs organization and begin another chapter.”
Rick Carlisle resigned from the Mavs’ job on June 17 after 13 seasons. He was named the Indiana Pacers new coach on Thursday.