The Dallas Mavericks have hired Nico Harrison as general manager and Hall of Famer Jason Kidd as head coach, the team announced on Monday.
Kidd, 48, joins the Mavericks after most recently serving two seasons as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he was part of the franchise’s 2020 NBA championship season.
Kidd, who was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018, begins his third stint in Dallas after spending eight of his 19 seasons as a player with the team and helping the Mavericks to the 2011 NBA title.
Before joining the Lakers as an assistant in 2019, Kidd was a head coach in Brooklyn and Milwaukee.
“We are excited to welcome J-Kidd and his family back to Dallas,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said. “He possesses a winning mentality that carried him through a Hall of Fame career as a player and has helped him successfully transition to the NBA’s coaching ranks. We are eager for him to get to work and lead our franchise and talented young players into the future.”
Kidd is happy to get this opportunity with the Mavericks.
“Dallas has meant so much to me as a player, and I want to thank Mark Cuban for the opportunity to return as a head coach,” Kidd said. “I am excited to get to work with this young, hungry, and incredibly talented team and to continue to build a winning legacy for the Mavericks organization.”
Harrison joins the Mavericks after spending the last 19 years at Nike, where he most recently held the title of vice president of North America basketball operations. In his role, Harrison supervised Nike’s basketball brand managers and worked closely with many of the brand’s star players, including Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.
“It’s a true honor to be the general manager of the Mavericks, an iconic franchise with a rich history not only within the NBA but across sports,” said Harrison. “I’m grateful for this rare opportunity and want to thank Mark and the rest of the organization for putting their trust in me to move the team to the next level.”
Before joining Nike in 2002, Harrison played professional basketball in Belgium for over seven years.
Dallas brought in Harrison and Kidd after GM Donnie Nelson and the team decided to part ways and head coach Rick Carlisle’s decision to resign earlier this month. Ultimately, Carlisle became the head coach of the Indiana Pacers.
