Jason Kidd has completed his initiation into the fraternity of coaches of underwhelming, tabloid-perfect New York teams. Not content to simply post a horrid record despite massive talent (the first requirement), he’s now gone and etched his first signature head-shaking moment for New York lore.
Kidd’s Nets seemed to be gaining some ground when they squeaked out a win Tuesday night, but the second contest of their back-to-back posed a bigger challenge. The visiting Los Angeles Lakers put Brooklyn on the ropes on Wednesday, and with 8.3 seconds left, Kidd and the Nets were pressed to find a way to overcome a 96-94 deficit.
Complicating the matter was that Brooklyn was without timeouts. So Kidd, once a mastermind on the court, went into his so-far limited coaching toolkit and tried the whole “whatever it takes” routine to get his team settled for the final push.
As Tyshawn Taylor walked off the court with the clock stopped, Kidd could be seen mouthing “hit me.” Taylor obliged, and Kidd, who was holding some kind of beverage on the sideline, went stumbling, with his drink hitting the floor. The very concerned referees and arena crew came over to clean up the mess, and Kidd suddenly had a stoppage of play and all his players around for an unofficial timeout.
The Lakers may have gotten the last laugh, though. As the chatter started about Kidd’s slip in the clutch, Los Angeles pulled out the 99-94 win — but not before a couple of Lakers players showed up in the impromptu Brooklyn huddle.
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“That’s vet stuff,” Lakers guard Nick Young told the New York Daily News after the game of Kidd’s drink drop. “That’s something you can’t teach. That’s something you have to learn if you’ve been in the league for a while.”
Kidd, certainly someone who’s been in the league for a while, had a nice excuse.
[tweet https://twitter.com/JeffZillgitt/status/405927478944071680 align=’center’]
If nothing else was gained, the Internet is going to enjoy the moment for a while.
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Check out the whole slip and “hit me” in the video below.
Photo of the Day
It’s only fitting to remember Mark Sanchez fondly on Thanksgiving — although buttfumbles have to be safer for the health of children than anything that involves putting them in a giant pot.
Tweet of the Day
Happy Thanksgiving, Zoltan.
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Video of the Day
Oh, holiday videos.
