Jason Kidd Makes Next Career Move After Mavericks Exit

BRISTOL, Conn. — ESPN hired former Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd as an NBA analyst, the network announced Thursday. Kidd’s hire came in a press release covering ESPN’s full commentator roster for the 2026-27 season.

Kidd will work game broadcasts and studio shows for ESPN this season. In the studio, he joins a new-look NBA Countdown with host Malika Andrews, fellow NBA champion Kendrick Perkins, veteran NBA reporter Brian Windhorst, and senior NBA insider Shams Charania. Countdown carries pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage on ESPN and ABC. Kenny Smith is set to appear on some of those shows.

On the game side, ESPN’s analyst roster lists Kidd with Richard Jefferson, Tim Legler, Doris Burke, Jeremy Lin, and P.J. Carlesimo, who will contribute to select broadcasts. The release did not say how many games Kidd will call.

Lin also joined ESPN’s roster Thursday after working the network’s coverage of the 2026 NBA Finals and NBA Summer League. The coming season is ESPN’s 25th consecutive season of NBA game coverage.

The North Carolina Tar Heels hired Malone as head coach in April, after one season on the show. Andrews, Perkins, and Chiney Ogwumike worked Countdown with him last season. Thursday’s release lists Ogwumike with the NBA Today contributors instead, and Andrews will keep hosting that weekday show.

Jason Kidd’s Exit From The Dallas Mavericks

Dallas and Kidd parted ways May 19, with the Mavericks announcing it as a mutual decision. The split came about two weeks after the franchise hired Masai Ujiri as president of basketball operations. In his Oct. 5 report, Stein wrote that the Mavericks fired Kidd.

About two weeks after the split, Dallas hired Dusty May as head coach. May had just won the national championship at Michigan.

Kidd went 205-205 in the regular season and 22-18 in the playoffs over five seasons in Dallas. His first team reached the Western Conference finals in 2022. Two seasons later, the Mavericks reached the NBA Finals and lost to the Boston Celtics in five games. In 2025-26, his final season, Dallas finished 26-56.

Across head coaching stops in Brooklyn, Milwaukee, and Dallas, Kidd is 388-395 over 10 seasons.

Dallas drafted Kidd second overall in 1994, and he won the 2011 championship with the Mavericks during his second stint there as a player. ESPN’s release lists the Hall of Famer as a 10-time All-Star, a five-time All-NBA First Team selection, and a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.

Kidd Has Left Door Open To Coaching Again

Kidd had not landed another head coaching job by late August, when he spoke with Delfin Dioquino of Rappler during a trip to the Philippines for an NBA fan event.

“I think I love coaching. I love to watch players get better. I want to win. I want to help the team win,” Kidd said. “And so I would never say no to coaching. Maybe somewhere down the future, but also right now I’m just at home really trying to enjoy my family.”

“And then also just watching the game and seeing if I can help others still from the coaching side,” Kidd continued. “I’m always talking to Jalen Brunson and to Giannis. So just trying to help others now that I’m not coaching.”

The last time Kidd was out of a head coaching job, he went a season without coaching after the Milwaukee Bucks fired him in January 2018. He returned as an assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2019-20, and that staff won the 2020 championship.

ESPN’s regular-season coverage begins Oct. 21. The Mavericks open May’s first season the same night at the Houston Rockets, with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. CT. Dallas makes its first ESPN appearance of the season Oct. 28, when the Oklahoma City Thunder visit American Airlines Center for an 8:30 p.m. CT tip-off.