Mavericks' Cuban: Kidd's 'Better Communication' Key to Last Season's Success

Mark Cuban approaches business decisions with the Dallas Mavericks in the same way he does with his other businesses.

Dalton Trigg | Sep 17, 2022

In this story:

Dallas Mavericks

Although the Dallas Mavericks made it to the Western Conference Finals last season and Luka Doncic is the MVP favorite yet again, many critics believe it will be hard for them to replicate that success after losing Jalen Brunson to the New York Knicks in free agency this summer.

However, if you ask Mavs owner Mark Cuban, the addition of Jason Kidd as head coach is what made the biggest difference last season.

“We had pretty much the same team as the year before, but Jason Kidd came in and set some expectations and was a better communicator,” Cuban said on the Re:Thinking with Adam Grant podcast.

“And so that helped develop our chemistry because all the guys knew what was expected of them. They knew their roles. They knew how they fit together. And that allowed us to go much further than people expected us to go.”

Another thing that might have helped was the Mavs' longstanding knucklehead policy, which Cuban once again brought up on his podcast appearance.

“Culture and chemistry are critical to success. A team can have one knucklehead, you can’t have two. One knucklehead adapts, two hang out together," Cuban said. “Sometimes you’ve just got to turn it all upside down and get rid of the people that are part of the toxic side of it."

The Mavs' chemistry was so strong last season that one could argue there were no knuckleheads on that roster. Will there be any this year with the additions of Christian Wood, JaVale McGee, Tyler Dorsey or Jaden Hardy? Hopefully, for the Mavs' chances of piecing together another long playoff run, the answer will be "no."

You can follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter at @dalton_trigg

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Mavericks? Click Here.

Follow DallasBasketball.com on Twitter.

Follow DallasBasketball.com on Facebook.

Catch up on the latest Mavs Step Back Podcast episodes:

Published Sep 17, 2022

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.