Jason Kidd named Brooklyn Nets’ head coach

Kidd appeared in court earlier this summer for an accident that occurred during the 2012 offseason in the Hamptons, where he crashed his Cadillac SUV into a light pole and then refused to take a breathalyzer test. Rather than fighting the case, the new Nets headmaster chose to accept the two-game penalty. That penalty has become standard for these types of incidents.

Kidd was hired by the Nets on June 12, shortly after retiring from the NBA as a player. Kidd also has a minority ownership stake in the team after buying a portion of Jay-Z’s share.

Jason Kidd might make his debut as a coach at the Brooklyn Nets opener after all: when he appears in court Tuesday for a DWI arrest made exactly one year earlier, he’ll accept responsibility for the accident after striking a plea deal that could see the charges wiped from his record, per the New York Daily News.

According to his lawyer, Kidd has agreed to something called an interim plea with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office. He’s committed to a deal that will see him make several appearances in schools discussing the dangers of drinking and driving, which could be taped and used as public service announcements. If he completes those contingencies, he will leave the court after his October sentencing hearing without any further punishment.

Kidd is set to appear in court on July 16 for an accident that occurred on the same day a year earlier when he crashed his car into a telephone pole before refusing to take a breathalyzer test. He’s expected to plead guilty rather than fighting the case, leading to the suspension speculation.

Technically Kidd has already had his coaching debut, though it came with the Nets summer league team. I use the word “technically” because Kidd might not know all of the rules: the first-year head coach became pretty much the first coach in the history of any Summer League team to pick up a technical foul when he didn’t realize he wasn’t allowed to leave the coaching box to protest a call.

The Orlando Summer League runs begins on July 7 and ends five days later on the 12th.

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The worst-case scenario is Isiah Thomas, of course. But the worst-case scenario in everything is generally Isiah Thomas.

Hiring a Hall of Fame point guard as a coach, despite how difficult it can be for those with a great playmaker’s weird prescience and superheroic vision to effectively communicate vital basketball mundanities to mortals? It’s not the worst idea, but also: Isiah Thomas. Presuming that the aforementioned ex-player coaching candidate, having previously been a winner, has had conferred upon him -- through some dimly understood osmotic process, maybe, or just by having been born with an inner winner within, or some other jock-rhetoric Successory -- an innate and contagious sense of What It Takes? All possible, sure, but: Isiah Thomas. Going to Jamba Juice? It’s your digestive tract, friend, but pause for a moment and consider: What if Isiah Thomas is in there, just hanging around, twinkle-eyed and half-tumid, purring something unconvincing about accountability?

Kidd obviously doesn’t have any head coaching experience, seeing as he announced his retirement at the beginning of the month, and acknowledged as much, saying that there might be some initial hurdles as he’s transitioning from being one of the NBA’s oldest players to becoming a rookie in the coaching realm.

“Yes, I have a lot to learn about coaching, but when I played the game I felt like I was an extension of the coach,” Kidd said during Thursday’s press conference. “Now I look to Deron to be that guy and to execute that game plan -- along with the rest of the team -- because I believe that we can win.”

The first thing to know about hiring first-time head coaches in the NBA is that there is extraordinarily little science about if it works, how it works and when it works. What science there is remains locked up in the spreadsheets of the analysts paid to figure it out. (Even that science is probably dicey.)

NBA coaches do a lot of different things. They are motivators, teachers, managers, communicators, rulers, tacticians and ambassadors. There’s no common consensus on what makes a good coach. Really, the only measure of a good coach is wins, and the only measure of a great coach is championships. And that’s very problematic.

Williams and Kidd have both developed a reputation of being difficult to coach over the course of their NBA careers, so there is already speculation that their personalities will clash when the Nets hit a rough patch. Expectations will once again be high for Brooklyn next season, as the payroll is high and veteran stars are inserted at most positions in the starting lineup. Kidd won’t have the luxury of making mistakes on the job during his first stint as a head coach, because the Nets are operating in a small window as a contender.

The key to Brooklyn’s success will be maximizing Deron Williams’ talent on the floor, which is something the team hasn’t been able to do so far. Williams, who has played against Kidd in NBA competition and as his teammate in international competition as part of Team USA’s 2008 gold medal team, says he’s not concerned about a personality clash and insists he will be fine if Kidd has to be hard on him. From the NY Daily News:

Kidd will immediately bring credibility and a voice of leadership to his former co-workers, and the hire was rare among NBA coaches: Though many are former players acting as NBA head coaches, few take the fast track to head jobs like Kidd did this week; most spend several seasons as an assistant coach before getting their own team to run. None have done so within only a few weeks after their announced retirement, and Kidd is the only one who didn’t find himself in a broadcasting career in between his two basketball gigs.

Let’s take a look at other coaches who were able to skip rungs on the coaching ladder thanks to their longevity and leadership as players.

The decision to bring on Kidd ends a search that began after the team parted with coach P.J. Carlesimo following Brooklyn’s first-round ouster from the playoffs. Carlesimo replaced former head coach Avery Johnson after a 14-14 start to the 2012-13 season.

On Sunday, Frank vouched for Kidd as a head coach when asked about the rumors on NBC’s “Mike’d Up,” according to ESPN:

Jason Kidd is on the verge of being named the Brooklyn Nets’ new head coach just weeks after announcing his retirement from the NBA, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

A formal announcement is expected soon and an introductory press conference could happen by the end of the week. A league source told Yahoo! that Kidd’s contract will be for three years with a team option for a fourth.

Kidd is currently negotiating contract details, with an official announcement on a three-year deal expected to come later in the week. Kidd met with Nets general manager Billy King on Monday to make a pitch for the job.

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Kidd is obviously well known around the NBA and would give owner Mikhail Prokhorov a star on the sideline, making it a bit more likely that the longtime NBA floor general will be hired before the week ends, as Wojnarowski reports.

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After retiring from his career as a player earlier this month, Kidd began angling to become Brooklyn’s next head coach in recent days. Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski says he’s being seriously considered to replace interim coach P.J. Carlesimo as both sides work to put together a staff which Kidd would lead.

One of the central and understandable concerns for Brooklyn is Kidd’s general lack of coaching experience. The 40-year-old has 19 seasons of playing experience under his belt, but it appears the Nets insist he bring along some experienced help to show him the ropes in the early going.

NetsDaily theorized on Saturday that Kidd was the team’s mystery coaching candidate.

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Brian Shaw is one of the hottest commodities on the coaching market, and the Brooklyn Nets are one of the teams “really interested” in obtaining his services, according to the New York Post’s Fred Kerber.

We already knew that the Clippers and the Nuggets were interested in the Indiana Pacers’ assistant. But according to the Post, the Nets have joined the fray. As Pacers exec Donnie Walsh told the Post:

ESPN’s Marc Stein and Chris Broussard reported Tuesday that Shaw is a “serious” target for the Nets, and that the team is expected to request formal permission to speak with him. The Indianapolis Star’s Mike Wells also reported Tuesday that Nets general manager Billy King has done a thorough background check on Shaw. Later, Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Nets indeed formally reached out to request permission to interview him.

However, if the Nets really want Shaw, they will have to fend off the Clippers to get him. The Los Angeles Times’ Broderick Turner first reported last week that the Clippers had contacted Shaw, and Turner now reports that Shaw has “gained momentum” as the top choice for the job. ESPN Los Angeles’ Ramona Shelburne also reports that Shaw is the Clippers’ top choice.

Brown is the only man to win both an NCAA and NBA title as a coach. He holds a career NBA coaching record of 1098-904.

Brown does have a connection with Nets general manager Billy King, as King was the GM in Philadelphia while Brown coached there. However, it’s unclear whether Brown has any interest in leaving SMU and returning to the NBA.

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However, it’s unclear how much interest Rivers would have in the Brooklyn job. Not only would he be the Nets’ third coach in two years, but the team has a veteran core locked in place and doesn’t appear to have many ways of upgrading their talent base and living up to the expectations put in place by Brooklyn owner Mikhail Prokhorov.

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Amick’s sources also tell him that former Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan is unlikely to be joining his former point guard Deron Williams in Brooklyn.

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The Brooklyn Nets want Phil Jackson above any other candidate for their open coaching position, even though the 67-year-old with 13 NBA Championships isn’t considered likely to return to the league as a coach.

It’s well known that Jackson wants to return to the NBA in some aspect, but likely not one as the day-to-day on-court head of a club. He’s been talked about as possibly taking an advisory role with the Toronto Raptors and has already accepted an informal position helping the Detroit Pistons out with their coaching search.

In the end, the decision by King was about what Carlesimo got out of a roster considered more talented than the injury-plagued Bulls squad that Brooklyn lost to in the first round. ESPN reported shortly after the Nets’ loss that Carlesimo, who as a head coach has never won a playoff series, had his future with the team riding on how far he took them in the playoffs.

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