Unless you’ve been living under a Coca-Cola waterfall this past week, you probably heard about Nets coach Jason Kidd’s now-infamous soda trick. Kidd told Tyshawn Taylor to run into him holding a drink to cause a spill, earning his team a bonus time-out in crunch time against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Coaches and players alike have weighed in, most supporting Kidd (Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni excluded), but that didn’t stop the NBA from fining Kidd $50,000 for his antics. That’s a fine that former New York Nets coach (Yes, that’s how long ago he coached the team) Kevin Loughery thinks is ridiculous:
“There are different ways you can do it,” Loughery told the newspaper from his home in Virginia. “You can have the players spill it. You can have one of the ball boys do it.
“They can’t fine the ball boys, I don’t think.”
Loughery, 73, said he would use the unsuspecting ball boy as his proxy.
” ‘Just pour some water on the floor,’ ” Loughery said he would tell them. “He really had no idea what I was talking about until he sees the results.”
For his part, Kidd said he was just “trying to win” when he intentionally spilled his drink on the court. Kidd was fined $50,000 on Thursday with the NBA saying he intentionally spilled his drink as a stall tactic.
Loughery said he was surprised by the amount of Kidd’s fine even considering the salaries of head coaches these days.
“I know guys are making way more money now, but that’s an outrageous fine for that,” Loughery said, according to the Daily News. “I guess the league doesn’t want any more of it. … I can’t believe they would fine a guy $50,000 for that.
“I think it’s a great move. You’re trying to win games. And, in all honesty, there were no rules against it. I don’t think Kidd deserved to get fined at all.”