Skeptical!
Yup, that’s what many folks were when Nets general manager Billy King made the bold move to sign Jason Kidd as the next head coach of the Brooklyn Nets last June. He didn’t stop there either. On draft day last year, King agreed in principle with Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics to acquire the rights to Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry. The Celtics got the rights to Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks, Kris Joseph, Keith Bogans and three first round draft picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018 in return.
What the heck? Billy King was the laughingstock of basketball purists.
How could he mortgage always his team for two future NBA Hall of Famers at the tail end of their career?
Why would he hire a recently retired player with no coaching experience?
The 2013-14 NBA regular season began and the Nets struggled badly. The late Michael Jackson couldn’t even argue with the Nets of ‘Who’s Bad,’ Brooklyn started the season 10-21. Coach Kidd and assistant coach Lawrence Frank’s philosophical coaching differences surely didn’t help either. Injuries, lack of a true alpha male Net and lack of chemistry were all Achilles heels of the first half of Nets basketball.
Source Sports was in the building at Sirius/XM NBA Radio back in December pleading the Brooklyn Nets’ case on The Bottom Line Sports Show
Easy as pie to insert the Ah-ha I told you so’s.
But then an unpredictable thing happened: after their lackluster start, Brooklyn went 34-17 the rest of the way and earned a 6th seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. The Nets went 44-38 overall and got a giant monkey off of their back by defeating Atlantic Division rival Toronto Raptors in the NBA Playoffs. Â
Eleven months ago, King made an unpopular decision to pick an inexperienced coach in Kidd. With the Nets’ playoff win on Sunday over the Raptors, according to Elias, nineteen first year NBA head coaches have coached game sevens on the road. Jason Kidd was the first to win one. King also gained experienced players via trade in Garnett and Pierce. Pierce ended up being the leader Brooklyn needed on the floor and Garnett’s over aggressive personality was the lit match to the seat of the Nets’ bench they desperately lacked last season.
When the New York media was ready to write the Nets off at the beginning of the season and follow the Knicks’ trail on the other side of the Brooklyn bridge, King stayed patient. He let relationships and team chemistry take their course and the Nets are benefiting as they prepare for the Miami Heat tonight in round two of the NBA Playoffs.
King knows a thing or two about relationships, mind you. His tenure in Philadelphia as the general manager of the 76ers last decade allowed him to get to know The Answer, Allen Iverson. Pound for pound, Iverson was one of he best little men to ever lace ’em up. But love him or hate him, Iverson’s personality was not always an ideal day at the beach. It has been well documented that he and head coach Larry Brown didn’t always see eye and that Iverson did not always buy into the team concept of basketball. Nevertheless, Iverson’s hard work and determination on the hardwood was rarely questioned.
With the amount of talent on the Nets’ bench, knowing how to manage talented superstar personalities is a great skill to have. King’s relationship with The Answer a decade ago was a crash course in building with today’s NBA baller. Billy King recently caught up with Source Sports and touched on it.
The Source: You checked out Allen Iverson’s retirement ceremony. You were the GM in Philly a decade ago—how cool was that experience?
Billy King: It was special because as Larry Brown said, ‘a lot of gratitude’ in my career because of a lot of wins and a lot of getting to the Finals. To see him recognized like that, you’ll always know a number 3 will be there in the rafters. It’s a special occasion, that and seeing him in the Hall of Fame are the best things to see him do.
The Source: Being a former general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, you were around AI daily. How special was it being around him?
Billy King: It was great because he taught you a lot about passion and playing hard. For me, I had some great individual conversations. We talked about a lot of different things, so I have a better insight of who he is.
The Source: How do you think that carried over now as the general manager of the Brooklyn Nets. You have a bunch of guys on your team who grew up watching Iverson and idolizing him. How do you think your involvement with Iverson carried over?
Billy King: Now, I always try to make sure I get to know the player first before I try to judge him. I learned that from being around Allen.
Speaking of relationships, check out Billy King’s interview with Nets big man Mason Plumlee during Brooklyn’s training camp at Duke University.
