What a rookie coach move.
Jason Kidd attracted all kinds of Internet hate Thursday when he broke the hallowed, unwritten rules of Summer League basketball (wait, there’s no such thing?). Kidd got a phone call in the middle of a game — a game he was merely watching and letting an assistant run, mind you — and, contrary to much of the modern world, politely took the call outside.
Cameras were, of course, on the game, and the clip of Kidd leaving was soon picked up by people who notice such things. That started off a nice round of Internet chatter, from the one side that wants to pick on a coach who would be so dumb as to take a call in the middle of a game, and from the other side that pointed out things like the fact that Kidd wasn’t coaching and that it was a Summer League game — and, good riddance, isn’t there anything else going on to talk about?
Perhaps Kidd’s biggest rookie move was not knowing that he’s now in that golden space of attention called New York sports, where everything he does is going to get a second look (including this meta moment, which is a story written about a story written about something that shouldn’t have been a story).
The Nets were losing 17-2, by the way.
Check out Kidd taking the call in the video below, and also free to take a look at a sampling of the Twitter reaction.
