Kidd eager to impress in rookie season as coach.
The Brooklyn Nets held a ceremony at the Barclays Center on Thursday night to retire the No.5 jersey in honour of head coach Jason Kidd.
Kidd arrived at the franchise back in 2001 while they were still in New Jersey, and led them to two consecutive NBA Finals appearances while also securing their first two Eastern Conference championships and four Atlantic Division titles.
He averaged 14.6 points, 9.1 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game in his six and a half seasons with the Nets, and currently holds a number of franchise records including for assists, steals and triple-doubles.
However, during the ceremony on Thursday night, he was keen to get things over and done with as he looks to embark on his first season in charge as a head coach.
Having swapped his New York Knicks jersey from last season for the Brooklyn bench, he admitted that he was honoured by the gesture from the franchise but was keen to get back to the locker room and prepare his team for the game against the Miami Heat.
“I don’t know if anyone’s had their number retired and had to go to work,” Kidd said before the game as reported by ESPN.
“I’m a rookie coach. So this game, [the ceremony] being [in the] preseason is something I wanted. I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible and then get back to my team.
“I’m going from that to telling my team to keep LeBron out of the paint.”
The Nets went on to win the game 86-62, and you can watch the pre-game ceremony in the video below:
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