Jason Kidd & his Milwaukee Bucks were in New York City Sunday afternoon for the first time since the Bucks coach left the city, and in discussing his tumultuous departure from the Brooklyn Nets, Kidd hinted it could’ve come much earlier.
Kidd told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN New York that where there’s smoke, there’s fire, alluding to reports that the Nets considered firing Kidd in December during the team’s 10-21 start, evading a question about whether or not he wanted to move on from Brooklyn:
“Did I want to be traded?” said Kidd, whose Bucks play the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Monday. “I think once [the Nets] OK’d the talk to Milwaukee, that just showed, whatever you want to call it, rumors or no rumors that they wanted to fire me in December had to have some legs.”
Kidd also denied the report that he’d sought more power in Brooklyn, which led to his departure. “No, I don’t need any power. My [job] is to learn how to be a coach and be the best coach that I can be.”
ESPN New York — Jason Kidd discusses Nets’ tenure