Mavericks avoided a Jason Kidd problem Cooper Flagg couldn't afford to inherit

The Dallas Mavericks might be far from being contenders at this point, but they have a very bright future as a franchise with Cooper Flagg leading the way as their new franchise player. As such, they definitely avoided a bullet by parting ways with Jason Kidd in May.

Kidd, who was the head coach for the Mavs from 2021 until his ouster in May, has recently become the subject of harsh criticism from one of his former assistants. Igor Kokoskov, who spent one season as part of his staff, did not hold back in a recent statement, calling Kidd the "worst guy in the NBA."

Kokoskov, who has head-coaching experience in the NBA with the Suns during the 2018-19 season, only had a one-year stint in Dallas. At the end of the 2021-22 campaign, he shared that he received a call from then-Nets head coach Steve Nash.

The Serbian coach went on to describe the situation interestingly. To quote him, "I was working for the worst guy in the NBA and now I have a call from best guy in the NBA."

Jason Kidd's coaching career has come with some negative history

It evades prudence to indulge in the criticisms hurled at Kidd, but there is indeed some history (of the negative kind) attributed to him in his career as a head coach. 

His previous stints in Brooklyn and Milwaukee ended in bad taste, with league personnel claiming at that time that he had the tendency to be volatile with his players and staff. There were also claims in the past that he engaged in psychological warfare as part of his coaching style. 

Kokoskov hinted at some personal issues with Kidd and the fact that the latter apparently could not get over the former's ties with Luka Doncic. That falls squarely into the power-play issues that plagued Kidd in his past coaching stops.

Given this pattern of behavior, Dallas definitely avoided a huge headache by parting ways with Kidd. The Flagg era has already started, and the rebuild cannot inherit a coaching problem this early, lest the Mavs risk not having a stable foundation for their present and future.

Flagg quickly proved last season en route to a Rookie of the Year award that the Mavericks are very lucky to have him take on the mantle as their next franchise player. And with coaching problems being the last thing it needed, Dallas did well acting fast on this front.