The Brooklyn Nets announced on Wednesday former NBA player Jason Kidd as the team's new head coach. The Nets will introduce Kidd in a press conference on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET. You can watch the free live stream HERE.
Nets general manager Billy King selected Kidd to be the 18th head coach in the franchise's NBA history, according to the team site.
"On behalf of the Nets organization, I am very pleased to welcome Jason Kidd as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets," King told the site. "Jason is a proven winner and leader with an incredible wealth of basketball knowledge and experience. This will be a natural transition for him to move into the role of head coach, as he embodies the tough, smart and team-first mentality that we are trying to establish in Brooklyn."
Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov added: "Jason Kidd has a long and legendary history with the Nets and with the city of New York. He has the fire in the belly we need, and has achieved as a player everything the Brooklyn Nets are striving to achieve. We believe he will lead us there. Welcome home, Jason."
Kidd returns to the Nets after playing for the franchise from 2001-08.
"This is a tremendous opportunity to be named head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, and it's a role I have been studying for over the course of my playing days," Kidd said in a statement released by the team. "Championship teams are built on being prepared, playing unselfishly and being held accountable, and that's how I expect to coach this basketball team. I am truly excited about this next phase of my basketball career."
Kidd, 40, retired from the NBA on June 3. He last played for the New York Knicks, completing his 19th season in the league before announcing his retirement. He won an NBA championship in 2011 with the Dallas Mavericks, and he led the Nets to NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003.
He finished his career averaging 12.6 points, 8.7 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 1.93 steals per game; he's the NBA's No. 2 all-time leader in assists (12,091).
