The Milwaukee Bucks have recently been playing the type of basketball many people had expected from them at the beginning of the year, as they have won four of their last five games and are slowly creeping back into the playoff picture. The Bucks have played well recently despite the fact that they have been without head coach Jason Kidd since he underwent hip surgery in December. Kidd, though, is expected to rejoin the team next week when the Bucks get home from their current road trip, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.
Kidd had been dealing with chronic hip pain for what he said was the past three or four years, but this season it got to the point where he couldn't move around and do normal day-to-day things. Kidd had hip surgery toward the end of December, and at the time reports stated that Kidd would miss "significant time" in January, and he certainly has.
The Bucks are in the middle of a four game road-trip, and they have two more stops to make before they play their next home game. Kidd's plan is reportedly to return to the bench for the team's next home game on Tuesday Jan. 26 against the Orlando Magic.
If Kidd does return to the Bucks at that point, like it is being reported, he will have missed more than a full month of time, but the Bucks have actually done better without him. With Kidd as the head coach so far this season the team is 11-18, but since Joe Prunty has taken over as the interim head coach the team has gone 8-7.
Kidd's job is not in danger despite the team having more success under Prunty, as the Bucks see him as a young coach that can grow with his young team. It was only a matter of time before this talented Bucks team started playing as well as they are capable of playing, and maybe Kidd's return will give them a little bit of an extra jolt to push even closer into the playoff hunt.
