Many remember when Jason Kidd was the head coach of the Bucks, from 2014-2018. He didn’t have very much success long-term, and now information about how he wasn’t very liked by the players is coming out, in a new Giannis Antetokounmpo biography, that is now out.
In excerpts of this book, a situation was detailed, on how the Bucks lost to the Hornets, two days before Christmas. Kidd tried to emphasize how this was a winnable game. and told Zaza Pachulia and Jared Dudley that they couldn’t fly back to see their families.
Instead, Kidd scheduled practice for the next day. He even went as far as telling his players to cancel their flights, which were made to see their families for the holiday. In that practice, Kidd went on to call Larry Sanders a “piece of shit” and a “terrible player.”
This practice lasted for three hours, as Kidd made the Bucks life weights and do pool exercises. Half of the team supposedly didn’t even know how to swim. It got to a point where players were too tired to even open Christmas gifts, according to Pachulia. Sanders’ body continued to grow tired, especially after being bashed by Kidd. Sanders soon took himself to a hospital, after telling Kidd he had to use the restroom. Sanders eventually only played in the NBA from 2010-2017, as five of those seasons came in Milwaukee, from 2010-2015.
Another incident was where Kidd bashed Giannis during a game against the Sixers, insisting that a play was his fault. Giannis maintained that this wasn’t the case. Film soon proved Giannis’ point at halftime. Despite this, Kidd still benched Giannis for the second half. The Bucks at the time though were blowing the Sixers out.
In the end, the Bucks finally avoided this toxicity, after Kidd left in 2018. Last month, it all paid off as well, after winning the NBA title.
Flip the pages to check out these excerpts from this Giannis biography.