by Andrew on Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:48 am
Ultimately they couldn't play together. They clashed constantly, especially Jason Kidd and Jimmy Jackson. Some people might have trouble imagining Jason Kidd like that these days because of his leadership and unselfishness, but when he first came into the league he wasn't quite the player we've seen these past five years or so. He was turnover prone often making sloppy attempts at fancy passes, he was a bit immature and "Call him Ason, that Kidd ain't got a J" was a phrase that was somewhat true but run into the ground very quickly.
There was a rumour the two had gotten into a scuffle over a female celebrity they were both supposed to be dating. I forget who it was now but as it turned out it was just tabloid stuff. In the end, Kidd didn't want to pass to Jackson and Jackson didn't want to play with Kidd. They were all dealt the following year (96/97), Kidd earlier in the year and then Mashburn and Jackson when Nelson came in and started clearing house.
Stronger veteran leadership from a coach or older player on the team might have avoided it. Perhaps part of the problem was they were on some terrible Mavericks teams in the mid 90s and all were lottery picks, so perhaps they all felt they were the saviour of the team. In the end, none of them led Dallas back to respectability.