Jason Kidd fired as Dallas Mavericks head coach

· Yahoo Sports

The Dallas Mavericks announced Tuesday, May 19, that they've parted ways with coach Jason Kidd after five seasons with the team.

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Kidd, 53, led Dallas to the 2024 NBA Finals and lost to the Boston Celtics. He also coached Dallas to two Western Conference finals appearances. That includes 2022, after Dallas routed the Suns in Phoenix in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals, led by former Mavericks All-Star Luka Doncic.

He had a record of 205-205 in his five years as coach, and a 22-18 playoff record.

Kidd was a 10-time All-Star and played for the Suns from 1996 to 2001, and won his career's only title in 2011 with the Mavericks, the team that drafted him in 1994.

"We have mutually agreed to part ways with head coach Jason Kidd," the team said in a social media post.

"A Mavericks champion, Hall of Famer and coach who helped lead this franchise back to the NBA Finals. Thank you, Jason," the statement continued, closing with the team's hashtag acronym "MFFL" meaning "Mavericks Family For Life."

This was the first big shakeup under new team president Masai Ujiri. He left the Toronto Raptors to join the Mavericks on May 4.

“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 a news release about his decision to oust Kidd.

Suns legend Charles Barkley was taken aback when he heard the news about Kidd's termination during ESPN's Inside The NBA pregame broadcast of the East finals Game 1 between the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers.

"Oh my goodness," Barkley said. "Jason Kidd just got fired. Wow! Oooh, that's a shocker there. Breaking news, it just came on my phone."

Kidd was let go just one year into the five-year extension and was owed $40 million for the remainder of his contract, per ESPN's Shams Charania.

The Mavericks have been plagued by injuries the past two seasons, including All-Star guard Kyrie Irving. He's been out since March 3, 2025, from a torn ACL. But the team has missed the past two postseasons and was draft lottery bound since Doncic, one of the league's young generational talents, was surprisingly traded in 2025.

Ujiri's predecessor, Nico Harrison, sent Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 2, 2025. The Mavericks received veteran All-Star big Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick in the deal.

Davis only played nine games in his first season with Dallas because of left adductor and eye injuries. The team finished 39-43 and was eliminated as the No. 10 seed in the 2025 Play-In Tournament by the Memphis Grizzlies.

Dallas landed the 2025 No. 1 overall pick and 2026 Rookie of the Year, Cooper Flagg. But after much ridicule from the NBA media and protests from the Mavericks fans for the Doncic trade, Harrison was fired by the team's majority owner, Patrick Dumont, on Nov. 11, 2025.

Davis suffered a left hand injury again this season and appeared in just 20 games before he was sent to the Washington Wizards in a blockbuster deal at the trade deadline.

Dallas finished 12th in this season's West standings at 26-56. The Mavericks have the No. 9 overall pick in the upcoming draft in June.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Jason Kidd fired as Dallas Mavericks head coach

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