‘Role model’ Mark Jackson lauds Coach Kidd

Mark Jackson was Jason Kidd's staunchest defender in the aftermath of Kidd's decision to "re-assign" Lawrence Frank last month.

Before Jackson's Warriors took on the Nets in his native Brooklyn Wednesday night, the Golden State coach made it clear his opinion on the situation hasn't changed.

"I cannot speak about Jason Kidd and Lawrence Frank, because I do not know it," Jackson said. "But everybody has to know who is in charge, and that's the head coach. He's the one calling the shots.

"I've never seen anyone of the Pips try to lead. That's Gladys' role. Let Gladys be Gladys."

After Kidd publicly recruited Frank, his former Nets coach, to join his staff as an assistant coach, the relationship deteriorated just weeks into the regular season, to the point where Kidd announced Frank would no longer be present at practice or on the bench during games. Frank later hired prominent attorney David Cornwell to represent him, presumably to try and negotiate a buyout.

Kidd later had Charles Klask, a former Frank assistant in Detroit, retain his title but take over advance scouting duties from Jim Sann, another former Frank assistant who worked for the Nets when Kidd played for the franchise. Sann then took Klask's spot on the bench.

"To me, I think too much was made of it" Jackson said of the Kidd-Frank situation. "I think it's clownish. There's no difference of opinions between my staff and I. They give suggestions. Some I go with, some I don't, but at the end of the day it's my decision, and we are united in whichever way we decide to go.

"If you have a problem with that, then you should not be my assistant coach. That's the way I feel about it. … I'm not saying that happened here, but wherever that happens, it shouldn't take place. So [I'm] just disappointed in the way that it was handled, and how much credit is given to a head coach, and how much fault is given.

"It's a no-lose situation if I'm an assistant coach and I get credit when we win, but when we lose, Jason can't coach a lick. The guy is a Hall of Fame basketball player. He's an all-time great, and he's going to be a heck of a basketball coach."

Kidd called Jackson his "role model" in coaching after Jackson went straight from the broadcast booth to coaching the Warriors prior to the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season. After the Warriors went 23-43 in that first season under Jackson, they improved dramatically last season, going 47-35 and advancing to the second round of the playoffs.

This season, Golden State is off to a 24-13 start and was carrying a league-best 10-game winning streak entering Wednesday's game. With a win, the Warriors would become the first team in NBA history to complete an undefeated road trip that lasted seven games or more.

"He's gone from playing to becoming a head coach, and become a very good head coach," Kidd said of Jackson. "I've talked to him throughout this season and I'm happy for his success, and he's given us, guys who have retired from playing, an opportunity to do something, and that's hopefully to become a coach like him."

Kidd said Jackson's biggest advice was to "just keep working and stay positive, and things tend to turn around."

Wednesday's game was a perfect opportunity for Kidd's team, riding its own three-game winning streak, to prove its recent improved play wasn't a fluke. And Jackson, not surprisingly, thinks Kidd is starting to get things figured out.

"He played the point-guard position at as high a level as you could possibly play it," Jackson said. "He's not just an all-time great point guard, he's an all-time great player. He's been a coach on every team he's been on. He won a championship being an offensive coordinator [in Dallas], with all due respect to [Dallas coach] Rick Carlisle, but I'm sure Rick will tell you the same thing.

"I guess [our] stories are similar. I don't have a championship, but I took pride in running teams, and I truly believe that Jason Kidd did not have to be an assistant coach to become a head coach because I watched him run teams. I played against teams he was orchestrating. I've got a lot of respect for him. Like I said, I'm pulling for him, I really am, and I'm glad things are turning around and hopefully he can continue that."

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