Mavericks HC Jason Kidd Reveals Reaction to Learning About Luka Doncic Trade

Stephen Douglas | Feb 2, 2025

Jason Kidd and Nico Harrison address the media after the Luka Doncic trade. / WFAA / YouTub

The list of people taken by surprise by the Dallas Mavericks' decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers is seemingly endless. It started with Rob Pelinka when he was first asked abou the possibility, and has included basically everyone who has learned about it in the hours since the news was broken by Shams Charania.

On Sunday afternoon, Mavs' general manager Nico Harrison and head coach Jason Kidd addressed the media ahead of the team's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Harrison answered a few questions before leaving Kidd alone at the microphone to face the media. Kidd was asked when he learned about the trade and revealed he was only informed in the "eleventh hour." Was he surprised by the news? You bet, but he's seen these things before.

"Shock, but unfortunately, I’ve been in this league for a long, long time," said Kidd. "So I’ve seen a lot. I’ve been involved in trades by the very… by the Mavericks. And so it is part of the business. It is a little shocking, but like in the sense we have to push forward as an organization, as a team we have a game to play, and we have to be pros about it. But we understand what Luka has meant to the Mavericks and we wish him and his family the best in L.A."

Kidd was drafted No. 2 overall by the Mavericks in 1994 won Rookie of the Year and was an All-Star in his second season, but was traded away in December of 1996. Kidd went on to be traded by both the Phoenix Suns and New Jersey Nets. All three times he was traded, he was an All-Star, and yet all of those combined weren't as shocking as the Doncic trade.

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