Jason Kidd is Staying...Probably

“What happens when the NBA’s most chaotic front office comes knocking on your coach’s door?” That’s the question at the heart of this high-stakes, high-drama episode of The Ben and Skin Show.Ben Rogers, Jeff “Skin” Wade, Kevin “KT” Turner, and Krystina Ray dive deep into the Knicks’ sudden and desperate pursuit of Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd—just days after firing their most successful coach in decades. The twist? The Knicks didn’t have a plan… and now they’re getting stonewalled by every team they call.The crew unpacks the tangled web of NBA relationships, from James Dolan’s business ties with Patrick Dumont to the Knicks’ history of tampering with the Mavericks (remember the Jalen Brunson saga?). It’s a behind-the-scenes look at how power, politics, and personal connections shape the league.This episode is a must for NBA fans, Mavericks loyalists, and anyone fascinated by the off-court chess match that defines modern sports. It’s smart, spicy, and packed with insider insight—plus a teaser for the next segment on the greatest TV dads of all time.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Give me that news quickie.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Yeah yeah, yeah. So last night Sean Sharnie of ESPN
reported that the Knicks had still not reached out, and
then this morning that changed. The Knicks this morning apparently
gave the MAVs a call. They had them on speed dial,
and the MAVs, this is in an article, firmly rejected
the Knicks request to speak with Jason.

Speaker 3 (00:23):
Okay, how firmly.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
That's the thing that they're going to have to text
Jason directly if they want to talk to him.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
Here's what I.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Might take away from this. I'm shocked that the Knicks
decided to fire their coach, who had been more successful
than any coach they've had in recent history, and then
didn't have a plan. It seems like that was an
emotional decision because they reached out to the Timberwolves to
see if they could talk to Finch. They got declined,
they were denied. They reached out to the Rockets to

(00:51):
speak to Yudoka. The Rockets are like, yeah, no, thank you,
you're denied. And now they've reached out to the Mavericks
and Maverters like no, we're good. So they're just they
fired their coach without a plan.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
I have some theories on this, some thoughts on this.
So this feels very much like James Dolan, who is
probably the most hated sports executive by a fan base
anywhere in all of sports.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
He also co owns the sphere.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
I chout, yes, and do you know who? He does
a lot of business with a lot of business with
that factors into this story that we're talking.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
About President Clinton. Who would it be?

Speaker 3 (01:30):
I don't know, Patrick Dumont, thank you. They do a
ton of business together. They're old friends. So as we
start talking about, you know, so you know, the the
Knicks were firmly rebuffed or whatever. They probably reached out
James Dolan probably reached out to Patrick. They probably had
a conversation. And then this is your new story.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
That's the rockets of the Tea Wolves as well as
well for their coaches, who are more coveted than Jason Kidd.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah, and so let me just say that everything about
this when you look at Leon Rose is okay. So again,
there's all these ways in which this is connected. There's
Rick Brunson, Jalen Brunson's dad, who had been on Tom
Thibodeau's staff for many years, and he got involved in

(02:16):
some sexual misconduct allegations, which I don't want to I'm
not saying whatever happened. I'm just saying that was a fact,
and he was not coaching for a while because of that. Okay.
So then while he was doing other things and his
son was playing here in Dallas, Thibodeau went from Minnesota

(02:36):
to eventually a job in New York. And you guys,
remember the Knicks got slapped on the wrist for tampering.
They've already tampered with the Dallas Mavericks and Leon Rose
tampered with Rick Brunson and Jalen Brunson in the league,
took a second round pick away from them. So that's
already happened. So to take it one step further, the

(02:56):
owner of the Knicks is friends with the owner of
the Mavericks. Okay, they're friends that do business together that
had nothing to do with basketball in the past. So
all of this is very incestuous. And we talk about
tampering and what it means. I would be shocked if
Jason Kidd has not been texting with Leon Rose already. Now,
whatever that means or doesn't mean, I'm not saying kids

(03:18):
interested in the job are not. But this is the
way all of this business happens in the NBA. They're
all texting one another, they're all talking, and if they
get busted for tampering, they give up a second round pick.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
And he should be everybody, every coach should keep pipelines
and bridges built to other opportunities. Absolutely, coaches are hired
to be fired. That's not a permanent job. And you
still got to keep working, so you're always networking. So
if I was Jason Kidd, I'd be like, Hey, this
is awesome. The Knicks want me, Mavericks, give me a

(03:50):
better deal, give me more power, or give me more money,
give me more stability, or let me talk to them.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yeah, and keep in mind being he just got a
contract extra last year, I'm saying because the Lakers were
coming after him to replace Darvin Ham because he won
a title with the Lakers as an assistant coach. He
had already been on that staff. So that's when him
and Nico got extensions after you know, last summer, after
the finals run. So he's already gotten an extension. Uh.

(04:20):
And again, the Mavericks don't have to do anything, just
like Houston didn't do anything, and Minnesota didn't do anything.
And and I will say to me, the best source
on any of this is Mark Stein. Yes, and Mark
Stein has put out there in no uncertain terms, Jason
Kidd is not quote unquote angling for this job, right.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
I want to say this. I like Jason Kidd as
a coach. I think you just I don't know if
he wanted Luca to be traded or not. I know
that I've heard different things on that. Yeah, but I
know that this team didn't quit on him. They kept
trying as hard as they could and he didn't quit.
He didn't punt, and that's extremely valuable. And the fact

(04:59):
that all these other teams won him it's probably a
sign that he's pretty respected. And I know that the
superstars on this team respect him. So I want him
to stay.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
Yeah, and let me say this too, but the way
they're currently constructed, and then we'll move on, I want
Kid to stay as the coach too. If they were
gonna let Kid go, then you could start convincing me
to tear the thing down.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
Now.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
I don't want that. Okay. I have called games during
a teardown, so just personally speaking, I ain't interested in
that but you can change the way I feel about
things if you start going in a different direction structurally. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
If they wanted to get rid of an Eco as
well and start trading their veterans and go to a
different right, Yeah, But I'd rather stay keep this train
on the tracks. I like where it's going now that
they got the number one pick. All right, coming up next.
Yesterday we talked about the greatest dads in movie history.
Now we're talking about the greatest TV dads ever. We
also got some Ranger stuff coming your way and a

(05:51):
strange name for a campaign. All that's next, don't miss it.
It's coming up right here on ninety seven point one.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
The Eagle