MILWAUKEE – An NBA game was to be played here in Fiserv Forum Tuesday night, but as Mavericks-Bucks tipoff neared, coach Jason Kidd found himself having to put out a brush fire 1,000 miles away in Dallas about a trade that occurred 423 days ago.
Not just any trade, Kidd realizes, but The Trade of Luka Doncic from which the franchise largely has moved on – or had until former majority owner Mark Cuban seemingly brought gasoline and matches to a podcast interview that was released Tuesday.
RELATED: Mark Cuban says Mavericks’ coach Jason Kidd was part of decision to trade Luka Doncic
“When are we going to move on?” Kidd he asked a Dallas Morning News reporter during a brief one-on-one interview about 90 minutes before tipoff on Tuesday. “We have to move forward. We’re focused on the present and the future and we’ve got an incredible opportunity to build.”
Mavericks
Kidd’s initial rhetorical question could have been meant for Mavsland in general, but, clearly, it mostly was directed at Cuban, whom Kidd said he phoned Tuesday after the Intersections podcast’s release.
During the podcast, Cuban expressed regret for selling the franchise to the Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont families in Dec. 2023 and criticized general manager Nico Harrison’s Feb. 1, 2025 trade of Doncic. Then suddenly, briefly, he injected Kidd into the conversation.
“That doesn’t justify it for our coach and our general manager to stand up and trade our best player.”
Cuban offered no specifics or elaboration, but those three words, “for our coach,” essentially hung Kidd out to dry.
Kidd, on multiple occasions, has said he didn’t learn of the trade until the 11th hour. During the following day’s news conference, Kidd praised Doncic, but emphasized, “When you look at the vision of the team and what Nico wants to build, I truly support that and truly believe the players we’re getting are ones that can help us win a championship.”
On Tuesday evening, Kidd saw no point in rehashing the events leading to the trade and his role, if any.
Mostly he spoke passionately about Mavericks fans, a bright future with rookie sensation Cooper Flagg – and of seemingly being thrust into the middle of his former boss’s spat with his current one, team governor Dumont.
“I truly believe the Mavs fans have built before and will build again,” Kidd said. “And we want them to be a part of this build.
“And so the things that are going on between two owners is between the two owners. I think we have a great owner in Patrick and he’s going to give us every resource to build a championship team.
“Out of respect to Cuban, he helped me and my family. We won a championship together.
“The two owners will figure it out. I truly believe that we have to focus on the present and the future. We’ve got a great opportunity.”
With that, Kidd turned his attention back to the evening’s task at hand, his 24-51 Mavericks facing the 29-45 Milwaukee Bucks.