Jason Kidd got most out of Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving as Mavericks reached NBA Finals

Jason Kidd needed to draw up a play late in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers. But he didn’t have a timeout to use, so Kidd "accidentally" intentionally spilled a soda on the court so that it required a cleanup − giving Kidd and his staff a quick moment to show players what play to run.

The year was 2013. Kidd was in his first season as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, 15 games into his coaching career and just retired from his playing days one season prior.

The J-Kidd hijinks didn’t go over well with the NBA office, which fined the timeout-needing, soda-spilling Kidd $50,000.

It’s a long way from a 4-11 start a decade ago to the NBA Finals in 2024. From coaching Brooklyn to coaching Milwaukee and now Dallas, Kidd will coach in his first NBA finals with the team he won a title as a player.

"It's humbling. It's surreal to be on (the Mavs) as a player to win a championship we weren't favored to win," Kidd said. "And so to be able to pull that off as a player and now to be able to help guide these young men as a coach to (try and) win a championship, it's just real and it's a lot of fun. It can be nerve-wracking at times, but it's actually been a highlight of my basketball journey and so we’ve got to find a way to beat Boston. We got four games to try to figure that out."

The NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics begins Thursday (Game 1, 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC), and the Mavs are trying to win their first title since Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas to a championship against the Miami Heat in 2011.

Kidd did a fantastic job with Dallas this season, leading it to a 50-32 record, including a 16-4 finish to the season that included 16 victories in 18 games. The Mavs earned the fifth seed in a deep West where the top three teams team won, 57, 57 and 56 games. There were multiple factors that led to Dallas’ success in the regular season and playoffs.

Using the court vision that made him a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer ∓ Kidd is No. 2 on the all-time assist list − he extracted the best of out Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving individually and as a pair. Doncic had one of his best seasons, posting career highs in points (33.9 per game), 3-point percentage (.382), assists (9.8 per game) free throw shooting percentage (.786). Doncic finished third for MVP, his best finish.

Irving produced his fifth season averaging at least 25 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists. In the playoffs, Irving and Doncic became the first backcourt mates to each score 30 points in a playoff game four times in a single postseason.

"He understands me and Kyrie’s role because he's been in that role," Doncic said.

Kidd also managed the incorporation of Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington into the lineup after they were acquired in trade deadline deals in February. Post-trade, the Mavs were one of the best teams in the league, improving offensively and defensively. That carried over into the playoffs. Dallas beat three 50-win teams to reach the Finals.

"He’s a great coach," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. "They’re one of the teams that we study a lot in late-game situations and the concepts they do. And his ability to create buy-in in his role guys and then put his best players in position to be successful. He’s done a great job."

Kidd isn’t interested in accolades. "It's not easy to be a coach in this league, but as I've told people, I can care less what you write about me," he said. "It's all about that group in that locker room and that group responds and that's what it's all about."

Kidd’s best finish for Coach of the Year was third in 2014-15 when he guided the Milwaukee Bucks to a 41-41 record. He received one third-place vote this season.

"My job is to help these young men get paid and also to find a way to win a championship," Kidd said, "and I've done that since I was a player and since I've been a coach."

But the bottom line is Kidd can coach. In his first season with Dallas in 2021-22, the Mavs were 52-30 and lost to Golden State in the Western Conference finals.

He was pivotal in the development of Doncic in Dallas and Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee, and those who have worked with him say he sees the game in a way only a few players can and has the ability to convey that. There aren’t many coaches like that. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird struggled with that aspect of coaching.

Kidd assembled a strong coaching staff: Sean Sweeney, Jared Dudley, Alex Jensen, Eric Hughes, Darrell Armstrong, Josh Broghamer, Marko Milic, God Shammgod and Keith Veney.

He’s also a gym rat. He loves being on the court − teaching and competing. His status as one of the all-time great point guards and even-keeled approach resonate with players.

"He's walking into the locker room and asking, ‘So what do we think?’" Mavs rookie center Dereck Lively II said. "Being able to have a coach like that who's going to make the players speak, make the players talk to one another and then say what he thinks is an amazing process."

The soda-spilling incident was a poor idea, but it points to Kidd’s competitiveness that he had has a player and brings as a coach.