Jason Kidd entertaining thoughts of becoming a franchise General Manager after retirement - NBA Update
It’s about time that the 39 year old Dallas Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd starts making retirement plans and he recently came up with one to become a general manager.
“I would like to go upstairs,” Kidd said. “I’d like to be the person who puts all of the pieces together. We’ll see if that works out.”
The Mavericks guard will be turning 40 next season and is on the verge of becoming a backup, especially if the Mavs succeed in bringing in Deron Williams from the New Jersey Nets in this year's free agency.
Kidd however doesn’t have any plans to call it quits as palyer anytime soon. Despite of some injuries, he has been playing solidly in this season averaging 5.9 points, 5.2assists and 4 rebounds in 42 games.
His plans to be at the helm of affairs after retirement do sound like a striking idea as he can use his 17 years of professional basketball experience. There are many precedents which can be quoted here to substantiate his claim.
Players like John Paxson, Jerry West and Danny Ainge all had humongous NBA careers and all of them proved to be successful general managers.
However, at the same time, one cannot undermine the fact that it requires more than athletic skills and a shinning career to become good at players evaluations and other trivialities related with the job. Michael Jordan is one
such example. He was a player with unmatched brilliance, achievements and skills, but is struggling mightily as the majority owner of Charlotte Bobcats.
It’s a tricky business when it comes to franchise management, surrounded by politics and greed. And then there is the media scrutiny. Guilty or not, a GM is the one, who has to face the media storm and the wrath of the exasperated
fans if something goes wrong.
Similarly when it comes to induction of new talent, general manager is always under the Damocles sword. It is always a gamble if the player would excel or grow in a team, but if he doesn’t then GM is to blame. If he does, then
coaches and lead players take the credit.
Moreover being a general manager, you have to multiply teams assets and at the same time rope in players with minimum cost. It’s the profit which is demanded by the franchise and talent hunt is just a mere fraction of job’s description.
Jason Kidd can be that person, but it’s a tough call for him. He’ll have to ponder hard before taking such responsibilities.
For now, he is performing well as a player in the 17th year of professional basketball career.
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