JASON KIDD EDITION

[box]NYTIMES – When Nets Salute Kidd, Thorn Should Receive an Assist

Thorn, in a recent telephone interview, put it this way: “All the things we were bad at, Jason was good at.”

That, he agreed, was pretty much everything.

“Passing, defense, rebounding and big shot making,” he said.

Thorn, now working for the N.B.A., was naturally on Thursday night’s guest list for the retired jersey event in Brooklyn before the Kidd-coached Nets’ preseason game against the Miami Heat. Before the Nets defeated the Boston Celtics at Barclays Center on Tuesday night, Kidd said that he preferred the ceremony be as brief as possible. [/box]

[box]NY DAILYNEWS – Brooklyn Nets coach Jason Kidd wants jersey retirement ceremony over as quickly as possible

That will be all. Kidd says he wants this ceremony to proceed as quickly and painlessly as possible. He never asked for it. The playmaker in him would prefer to pass it off to someone else, maybe to a better scorer.

“We can do it right now,” Kidd said Tuesday, before the Nets beat Boston, 82-80, in a preseason game. “Just want it quick. (Doing it before the regular season) was my choice. During training camp would be even better. It’s not about me. It’s about the players.”[/box]

[box] ESPN – Starting five: Favorite J-Kidd moment?

“We can do it right now,” Kidd joked Tuesday night. “Just let it be quick. They can put it up, they don’t need to hear from me or bring anybody in.

“It is a great honor. It goes without saying, my coaches and my teammates are going up there too because they were a big part of that. I am very thankful. A lot of guys asked why is it not during the regular season. It was my choice. I wanted to get it, if we could have done it during training camp, I would have already done it.

A preseason game, get it done with over, and then we move on. Because it is not about me, it is about the Brooklyn Nets. And these guys, my players. That is why we are doing it during the preseason and hopefully it will be quick.” [/box]

[box]NYPOST – Jason Kidd honored to have Nets jersey retired — quickly

Kidd is expected to be honored during a presentation in which past players and officials will speak about the 40-year-old’s impact on the franchise and how he helped turn the ignored and irrelevant New Jersey Nets into a title contender from almost the instant he arrived in 2001.

Kidd may speak to the crowd as well, but however long the ceremony lasts will be too long for the coach.[/box]

[box]YAHOO– Is Jason Kidd Already on the Hot Seat With Brooklyn Nets?

Granted, Kidd played against everyone on his roster save for rookie Mason Plumlee what seems like only a couple of days ago, but that’s where the respect factor comes in. It is going to be much easier for Kidd to win over the locker room than it would be for a coach that none of these players had ever heard of.

New acquisitions Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry will dazzle the locker room with their championship bling. The projected starting lineup has 35 All-Star game appearances between them. Another one of the new faces, Andrei Kirilenko, took a well-below-market-value contract (plus half of Russia, if the whining from other NBA owners is to be believed) to be in Brooklyn because he felt it would give him a chance to chase that elusive title ring.[/box]