Mavericks news

Jason Kidd is out as coach of the Dallas Mavericks after 5 seasons

Jason Kidd and the Mavericks have parted ways.

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Jason Kidd is out as coach of the Dallas Mavericks after five seasons, and two weeks after the club hired former Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri as team president and governor.

The team said Tuesday, May 19 it was parting ways with Kidd, describing the move as a mutual decision. The Hall of Fame point guard led the franchise to its only championship as a player in 2011.

When asked about the future of Kidd at his introduction on May 5, Ujiri was noncommittal, saying he would talk to Kidd while evaluating all aspects of the team.

“As we evaluate the future of our basketball program, we believe this is the right moment for a new direction for our team,” Ujiri said in a statement. “We have high expectations for this franchise and a responsibility to build a basketball organization capable of sustained championship contention.”

Kidd made two deep playoff runs with Luka Doncic, reaching the NBA Finals in 2024, two years after a loss to Golden State in the Western Conference finals.

The Mavericks traded Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2024-25 season, getting Anthony Davis as the centerpiece in a deal that backfired badly on the franchise. Dallas missed the playoffs that season and again in 2025-26.

The 53-year-old Kidd had said he was looking forward to developing 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, who won Rookie of the Year. Instead, that task will fall to someone else.

Kidd finished with a .500 regular-season record (205-205) with the Mavericks, an appropriate illustration of the up-and-down nature of his tenure.

The run to the West finals came in his first season, when Dallas stunned the favored Phoenix Suns in Game 7 on the road in the second round. The Mavericks lost in five games to the Warriors, who won the title.

Then-general manager Nico Harrison traded for Kyrie Irving the next season, but injuries to him and Doncic limited their chances to be an elite scoring pair. Dallas missed the playoffs.

In their only healthy season together in 2023-24, Doncic and Irving led the Mavericks to the Finals for the first time since Kidd helped Dallas win it all.

Nine months later, Harrison shocked the NBA with the trade of Doncic. Because of injuries, Irving and Davis played together for just 2 1/2 quarters.

Harrison was fired early in the 2025-26 season, after a slow start and with Davis injured again. Davis was later traded to Washington, and despite plenty of brilliant play from Flagg, the Mavericks finished 26-56.

Dallas becomes the fourth team with a coaching vacancy, joining Orlando, Chicago and Portland. The Trail Blazers were led by Tiago Splitter in an interim role this season. Since the regular season ended, Milwaukee has hired Taylor Jenkins and New Orleans brought in Jamahl Mosley.

Of the 12 coaches to take teams to the NBA Finals since 2019, seven are no longer with those clubs — including four who won championships: Nick Nurse with Toronto in 2019; Frank Vogel with the Lakers in 2020; Mike Budenholzer with Milwaukee in 2021; and Michael Malone with Denver in 2023.

The other coaches who went to the Finals since 2019 and are no longer with those teams: Monty Williams (Phoenix in 2021), Ime Udoka (Boston in 2022) and Kidd.

Kidd has a 388-395 record in nine-plus seasons as a head coach. He became a coach immediately after retiring as a player, leading Brooklyn to the second round of the playoffs in 2013-14. He bolted for Milwaukee, where he was fired in the middle of his fourth season.

After two seasons as an assistant with the Lakers, including their 2020 title run in the playoff bubble with LeBron James and Davis, Kidd was hired by the Mavericks.

Ujiri told reporters not to read anything into him being noncommittal about Kidd's return, saying the coach lasted several years in each of the previous times he was hired to run basketball operations, with Toronto and Denver.

This time, Ujiri is starting fresh.

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More Parks for Dallas

Dallas' Klyde Warren Park to add new pavilion, lawn and seasonal ice rink

Rendering of ice rink on the new Jacobs Lawn at Klyde Warren Park

Image courtesy of Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation

The new Jacobs Lawn at Klyde Warren Park will transform into an ice rink during the winter.

Downtown Dallas' Klyde Warren Park is planning a nearly two-acre expansion over two sections of Woodall Rogers Freeway, adding on a new lawn space, event pavilion, seasonal ice rink, and more.

Announced Monday, June 29, the 1.7-acre expansion will increase the park from 5.4 acres to 7.1 acres, extending it west toward Field Street while covering the final recessed portion of the freeway.

Construction is expected to begin before the end of 2026 and take approximately 24 months to complete.

Here's a closer look at the expansion plans, revealed in a press release:

Park officials say the portion west of Akard Street will feature The Jacobs Lawn, a 37,000-square-foot multi-use green space designed for festivals, markets, performances, civic celebrations, and more.

Klyde Warren Park expansion rendering of The Jacobs Lawn The expansion of Klyde Warren Park will include the new Jacobs Lawn. Image courtesy of Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation

During the winter months, the lawn will transform into an outdoor ice-skating rink, with additional seasonal programming planned throughout the year.

Adjacent to the lawn, the Overlook will allow guests to view city traffic as cars disappear right underneath them, driving home the point of how the park was built on top of one of the busiest freeways in Texas.

Rendering of The Overlook near The Jacobs Lawn at Klyde Warren Park The Jacobs Lawn portion of the expansion of Klyde Warren Park will include The Overlook where visitors can watch traffic pass by. Image courtesy of Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation

Built on the section between Akard Street and St. Paul Street will be a two-level enclosed glass-and-steel pavilion, complete with an open-air rooftop area.

The building will feature approximately 24,000 square feet of climate-controlled event and reception space, along with the 8,000-square-foot rooftop terrace.

Rendering of rooftop pavilion on new glass-and-steel pavilion at Klyde Warren Park A new glass-and-steel pavilion at Klyde Warren Park will include an open-air rooftop pavilion. Image courtesy of Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation

"Fourteen years ago, many people questioned whether building a deck park over a freeway was even possible," said Jody Grant, chairman of Klyde Warren Park, in a statement. "Today, Klyde Warren Park stands as proof of what can happen when a community believes in a bold vision. This expansion isn't simply about adding acreage. It's an investment in Dallas, an investment in the community and an investment in future generations."

Archer Western, the same firm that built the Park's original deck structure, has been awarded the construction contract by the Texas Transportation Commission.

While most traffic patterns surrounding the new sections appear to be unaffected, renderings show that a dedicated U-turn at Akard Street will be eliminated for the Jacobs Lawn portion.

While construction is underway, the Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation will launch the next phase of its private fundraising campaign to support the amenities, programming, and experiences that will activate the expanded park upon its completion.

"Klyde Warren Park demonstrates what thoughtful private-public partnerships can accomplish," said Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert in a statement. "Since opening, the Park has supported the generation of hundreds of millions in incremental tax revenue for the City of Dallas. But beyond the numbers, it has created a place where neighborhoods connect, businesses invest and communities come together. This expansion will continue to strengthen our urban core for generations to come."

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