In a sudden change of direction, Jason Kidd is out as the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks.
In a statement, the team announced that the sides mutually agreed to part ways. The move comes just 15 days after it was announced that Dallas had hired Masai Ujiri as the team’s new head of basketball operations.
“Jason has had a meaningful impact on the Dallas Mavericks, both as a Hall of Fame player and as the head coach who helped lead this franchise back to the NBA Finals,” said Mavericks President Masai Ujiri in a statement announcing the move. “We are thankful for Jason’s leadership, his professionalism and his commitment to the team. In my short time here, I’ve developed an enormous amount of respect for what he has built. He will always be an important part of the Mavericks family.”
At his introductory press conference, Ujiri was noncommittal about Kidd’s future with the team, saying the plan was to review every level of the organization and proceed from there.
The Mavericks will now start a “comprehensive search” for Kidd’s replacement. This will be a highly coveted job because Dallas has Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg on the roster to build around.
“As we evaluate the future of our basketball program, we believe this is the right moment for a new direction for our team,” Ujiri said in his statement. “We have high expectations for this franchise and a responsibility to build a basketball organization capable of sustained championship contention. We will conduct a thorough, disciplined search for our next head coach and continue to evaluate our entire basketball operations staff to ensure we compete at the standard Mavs fans expect and deserve.”
Kidd still had four years and roughly $40 million on his contract — and there is no way he left that money on the table — but owner Patrick Dumont signed off on this decision, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Kidd got a contract extension after last summer, when the Knicks reached out to the Mavericks about talking to Kidd for their open coaching position. Kidd wanted a move into the front office — something also reported at his previous coaching stops — and he talked to Dumont about that before Ujiri was hired, but was shot down, ESPN’s MacMahon reports.
If he’s willing to return to the bench, Kidd will be the top choice for many teams and will have options.
Kidd was a Hall of Fame point guard who helped lead Dallas to its one NBA Championship in 2011, then returned as coach. In Kidd’s five years as the Dallas head coach, he had a 205-205 record, leading the team to the Western Conference Finals in his first year and the NBA Finals in 2024, but the team missed the playoffs the past two years after trading Luka Doncic to the Lakers for a package centered around Anthony Davis.
One name to watch in Dallas is Billy Donovan, who stepped away as the Chicago Bulls coach to look for a job where he felt he could coach a team in more meaningful games. While he is considered the frontrunner for the Orlando Magic job, he might well consider Dallas as well.
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