The Jason Kidd chapter in Dallas has closed, and the first real postmortem from inside the building is coming in hot.
Igor Kokoskov, who spent the 2021-22 season as an assistant on Kidd’s staff, did not hold back when asked about his experience with the former Mavericks coach. Kokoskov joined a team that reached the Western Conference finals that spring, and he brought a built-in connection to the roster after coaching Luka Doncic with the Slovenian national team and leading that group to EuroBasket gold in 2017 before Doncic entered the NBA.
That connection, Kokoskov said, did not exactly help matters.
In an interview with Eurohoops on X's & O's Chat, Kokoskov drew a hard line between Kidd as a player and Kidd as a coach. He praised the Hall of Fame-caliber point guard while unloading on the man he worked for in Dallas.
"He was one of my favorite players and one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game. I loved the Princeton offense because of Jason Kidd," Kokoskov said.
"But Jason Kidd, the player and Jason Kidd, the coach and person, are two completely different stories. I didn't have a good experience with him, nor do I have a particularly high opinion of him off the court or as a head coach.
And it's fine for people to know that. That's not just my opinion.
He generally led some really gifted teams."
Kokoskov’s sharpest criticism was aimed at the kind of teams Kidd has coached. He pointed to Brooklyn, Milwaukee and Dallas as examples of rosters Kidd inherited rather than built, a theme that has followed him for much of his coaching career.
He also described a direct conversation he had with Kidd after a season together, one that laid bare the tension.
"Perhaps the best illustration is that, after working with Jason Kidd for a year, I sat down with him and said: 'Look, I have a history with Luka Doncic and I know him well. We've worked together before and that can certainly help the team.
But I am not here working for Luka Doncic. I am working for you.
This is your team,'" Kokoskov said. "However, he could never really get over it.
It was something in his head, part of his personal issues, which I didn't want to get involved in."
Kokoskov was gone after that lone season in Dallas.
Not long after, he said, Steve Nash called about joining Brooklyn, and Kokoskov framed the difference in stark terms.
“I was working for the worst guy in the NBA,'' he said, "and now I have a call from best guy in the NBA.”
From the outside, there is no way to fully know how fair Kokoskov’s version is. He is, after all, a former assistant speaking after only one year on the staff.
And Kidd did guide that 2021-22 Mavericks team to a conference finals appearance before taking them to the NBA Finals two years later. His coaching résumé is not flimsy.
Still, the contrast between eras is obvious now that Dusty May is in the chair. May arrives in Dallas with no real baggage attached to him. His reputation is built on being approachable and hardworking, and people who have been around him consistently describe a coach players are comfortable playing for.
That does not promise success. First-year NBA head coaches still have to survive the league’s demands, and May will ultimately be judged by wins like everyone else.
But it does suggest a different kind of season in Dallas. The Mavericks spent years navigating personalities, egos and friction on top of everything else. Whatever comes next, it is hard to imagine it involving a former assistant openly questioning whether he respected the head coach.
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