Nets name Jason Kidd coach

[pwaldo]

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/stor...-brooklyn-nets

The Brooklyn Nets have named Jason Kidd their new head coach, the team announced Wednesday night.

The hiring was first reported by ESPN's Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne. Kidd will be introduced at a 2 p.m. ET news conference Thursday at Barclays Center.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to be named head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, and it's a role I have been studying for over the course of my playing days," said the 40-year-old Kidd, who retired as a player earlier this month. "Championship teams are built on being prepared, playing unselfishly and being held accountable, and that's how I expect to coach this basketball team. I am truly excited about this next phase of my basketball career."

Kidd's hiring came after the Nets met with Brian Shaw for five hours Wednesday. Sources told ESPN.com that although Shaw had been targeted by the Nets for some time and made a strong presentation during Wednesday's interview, Kidd convinced Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and his advisers that he is ready to jump directly into the lead seat on an NBA bench despite the fact that he has no prior coaching experience.

"Jason Kidd has a long and legendary history with the Nets and with the city of New York," Prokhorov said. "He has the fire in the belly we need, and has achieved as a player everything the Brooklyn Nets are striving to achieve. We believe he will lead us there. Welcome home, Jason."

[BigAl_83]

Ridiculous! Should have spend one or two years on the bench as an assistant learning what it means being on the sidelines fulltime.
Being an alltime great and future HOF player doesnt make you a great coach!

[TrFstPtch]

As a Nets fan, I really like this hire. I don't think we could have landed one of the big-name coaches available out there. Kidd was always a smart player and a great leader. Hopefully he can continue that from the bench... we'll see.

[Lithium]

Will be interesting to see how this plays out given his lack of experience coaching.

[angel0430]

Playing and coaching are totally different. Hopefully he is going to be a good coach since I liked him as a player. I don't see it as a bad move by the Nets but as a risky one given he has no experience on the coaching side of the game.