Jason Kidd Is Fired From The Bucks

After three and a half seasons as the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, Jason Kidd was fired by the team’s general manager, Jon Horst, shocking many players and fans.

Horst explained that Kidd was fired due to the team’s lack of success.

“We believe this gives our team the best opportunity to have the most success this season, the success that we expect, and going forward long-term,” said Horst to SBNation. “You have short windows in the NBA to build toward contention and actually contend, and we didn’t want to waste time in putting our team in the best position to do that,” he said.

Junior Tony Lecus and senior Vlado Zrnic have mixed feelings about the firing.

“I think the Bucks organization feels that they should be winning more than they are right now,” said Zrnic. “But I think the Bucks season has been going well so far.  I thought Kidd was great because he brought a “name” to Milwaukee. Kidd is very well known, and him being coach brought publicity to the Bucks.”

“I thought he was doing a good job with who he had. There have been a lot of injuries this year, and they don’t have a very good center, so it’s to do well under these circumstances,” Lecus said. “He needed to be able to discipline the team.”

Kidd was 139 to 152 in his career as Bucks coach. Currently the Bucks have 24 wins and 22 losses.

“We believe that a fresh approach and a change in leadership are needed to continue elevating our talented team towards the next level, bringing us closer to our goal of competing for championships,” Horst said.

Senior Andrew Sodemann agrees with Horst.

“The Bucks were not performing to their highest capability as a team. I didn’t like Kidd’s coaching style. It made the Bucks one of the worst teams defensively,” said Sodemann. “This season has been frustrating; with our roster we should be a top team in the league.”

Kidd is mostly known for his successful years as a player himself, but that does not mean he makes for a great coach. Greendale Girls Basketball JV Coach, Robert Krol, expresses his thoughts about why he believed Kidd was fired.

“The Bucks have under achieved so far this season in relation to expectations. Although he was a star player, it does not always make a great coach. He was very laid back and seemed disinterested at times,” said Krol. “He seemed to lack the ability to motivate the players. With the new arena coming next year, the hope was that the Bucks would be a title contender by the time they entered the new facility, and to date this year the team was well shy of getting to that goal.”

Sodemann agrees with Krol about his coaching style on the court.

“He had no communication with players or refs during the game. He also didn’t have very good relationships with many of the players.”

The Bucks’ star player, Giannis Antetokounmpo, apparently knew about the firing of Kidd prior to it happening. He liked Kidd as a coach and was sad to see him leave. Kidd explains the loyalty of Antetokounmpo offering his help to prevent the firing from happening on a phone call about 15 minutes before it happened.

Kidd states, “He [referring to Antetokounmpo] called me and said, ‘Coach, this isn’t right what they’re about to do, but (they) are gonna let you go. What can I do? I’ll call the owners, I’ll call my agent,’” Kidd said to Yahoo Sports.

Kidd responded to the press being grateful for the time he has had with Antetokounmpo and the Bucks.

“I enjoyed my time in Milwaukee. There’s no regrets. We took an organization that was in a bad place and shined a light on it,” Kidd said. “They’re still young in running their race. Giannis is young in running his new race, as one of the best players in the world.”

Giannis knows he has to accept what’s best for the team even if it means firing the coach he loves.

“That’s in the hands of the front office. Whatever they think or they can do to make this team better and make this team a championship-level team, it can happen,” he said to the Journal Sentinel. “If it’s me being traded or the coach being fired or whatever move they think is the right move to make this a championship-level team, I think it is the right move for it to happen.”

Giannis explains the support Kidd has given him from the beginning and to the end.

“He was a big part of my success. He trusted me, he put the ball in my hands, he motivated me on a daily basis, he pushed me to be great and not to be mediocre,” he said. “I was 19 when he came and he said he was going to put the ball in my hands. The first time I wasn’t ready. I told him, ‘Coach, I’m not ready to create and make plays for the team.’ He said, ‘OK, we’re going to take our time.’ The next year, he put the ball in my hands and I was ready.”

Dan Devine, a writer for Yahoo Sports agrees with the firing of Kidd.

“Sure, some of the Bucks’ most important players are young and are still learning how to process the game at a high level on both ends of the floor, but Milwaukee simply has too much talent to continue treading water like this; a new coach with a clearer view for how to get the most out of that young talent might be just what the doctor ordered in Milwaukee,” he said.