So much for that happy Nets email barely more than a year ago (right). And another reminder: basketball is a business.
Mike Vaccaro in the Post, From greatest to grating, Kidd’s legacy forever tarnished
Update, July 1, back page
But none of them have willfully tried to mangle their legacies, the way Kidd has. None of them have dared the same fans they used to thrill to despise them — or, worse, to try to forget them.
It was graceless enough the way Kidd left the franchise the first time... Kidd II is something else altogether, an absolutely blind power grab that completely ignores the fact the only reason Kidd got the job here in the first place is because of the royal place he has in the Nets’ team history (which, admittedly, is akin to being the best chef in a freshman dorm).
It was always an uncomfortable balancing act. The Nets knew better than anyone else what a challenge Kidd was — at best, call it “quirky,” at worst call it sociopathic — and could well have said: “Thanks for the memories. See you when we raise the jersey.” They did not. They hired him, and snickered at how they may have stolen him clean away from the Knicks, and rejoiced in the attendant publicity and then watched Kidd act as a coach with every ounce of the stubbornness he displayed as a player.... But how much time will Kidd need to recuperate his image with the Nets?
Maybe he can keep his calendar clear for 2044.
In the meantime? Prokhorov grew up in Soviet Russia. He knows how the State used to “edit” its history books. Maybe the number stays. But it’s safe to say Jason Kidd may soon become the first icon in NBA history to become a non-person.
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