Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd ruffled some feathers in the lead-up to Game 2 of the NBA Finals when he said Jaylen Brown is the best player on the Boston Celtics. Over the years, there has been plenty of discourse around the hierarchy in Boston, so there were plenty of people who believed that Kidd was trying to stir up some feelings of discontent between Brown and Jayson Tatum — both players addressed Kidd’s comment and made clear they did not care.
Well, as it turns out, Kidd really does not want you to think there was anything Machiavellian going on. Kidd went onto SiriusXM NBA Radio and addressed his comments, and claimed he was simply going off of what he saw after Game 1.
“Everybody thought my comments [on Jaylen Brown being their best player] was mental warfare”
Mavs head coach, Jason Kidd, clarifies himself with @TermineRadio & @JumpShot8 pic.twitter.com/DrGmhXLXp9
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) June 12, 2024
“My comment about Jaylen Brown is from watching tape and watching Game 1,” Kidd said. “I thought, again, he was the best player — also, a Cal alum, so we have ties. And so, I said that. Everybody thought it was mental warfare. That’s not mental warfare, that was just my opinion. But if it was to be true, then dang, I didn’t mean to cause such a stir.”
Boston went on to win Game 2, 105-98, to take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals on the Mavericks. As such, I think if Kidd is lying here and he was going for mental warfare, well, it didn’t work all that well.