BOSTON – On the opposite coast from where the NBA Finals are taking place, the Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching job is capturing a lot of attention.
Mavericks’ coach Jason Kidd weighed in on the latest speculation that the Lakers are potentially interested in adding University of Connecticut coach Dan Hurley as their head coach.
Kidd has known Hurley since they were competitors in high school.
The idea of Hurley jumping from a wildly successful college coaching career to the NBA reminded Kidd of the different paths there are to an NBA coaching job. Some come from college with no previous NBA experience. Others go from playing to the head-coaching spot, as Kidd did.
“There’s a lot of different paths,” Kidd said. “I’m happy when you talk about Hurley being mentioned as a candidate, JJ (Redick) being mentioned, two different paths that could become head coaches in this league. Both basketball IQs extremely high.
“Whoever the Lakers choose, it’s up to them. But when you talk about championships, Hurley has won two at UConn. I’ve gotten to play with Hurley in high school (all-star games). He is a warrior. He’s a champion. Coaching runs deep in their blood in that family. So if he was to become a Laker, that’s incredible for him and his family but also for the Lakers.”
Kidd also championed the cause of Redick, who had a cup of coffee with the Mavericks before he retired in 2021.
“JJ understands how to play the game the right way, and so either candidate is going to be great for the Lakers to choose from, but the path, there’s a lot of different paths.
“Mark Jackson set the path for us, who’ve gotten older, who could not move, to figure out what we can do next. I always thank Mark privately that he gave us old-timers a chance to do something and still be involved in the game at a high level and I got lucky that the owners believed that I could do it.”
Celtics a bit presumptuous: The Mavericks were greeted at their shootaround Thursday morning by a TD Garden awash in T-shirts that were draped over every seat in the house.
Most of them were green.
But on one side of the court, the letters “BOS” were spelled out in white T-shirts. On other side, it was local area code “617.” Then in one section of baseline seats, there was an “18.”
The Celtics have won 17 NBA titles, tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for most all-time. They are gunning for No. 18. Was it a little offensive to the Mavericks?
“Everybody’s obligated to their opinion,” center Daniel Gafford said. “I really don’t look at anything like that. We’re just going to see what happens when we get out there on the floor.”
Said Derrick Jones Jr.: “I didn’t (see it), but that’s fine. They can (think) whatever they want. It ain’t got nothing to do with us.”
For the record, in the 2022 NBA Finals against Golden State, the Celtics had a similar setup. They lost that series.
Walton remembered: Celtics’ legend Bill Walton, who died last week, was remembered before the game and the Celtics’ players wore warmup shirts with “WALTON” emblazoned on the front in tie-dye colors.
A moment of silence took place and commissioner Adam Silver opened his pregame news conference with a few comments about the 7-footer who won two NBA titles, including the ’86 championship with Boston.
“I remember the first time we played in China, in 2004, being on the Great Wall with him,” Silver said. “He was quite an adventurer. I can’t think of a better ambassador for the NBA than Bill. He enjoyed talking to every single person.
“Right up until this past season, he was working. And as he continued to cover the game, (he) couldn’t stop complimenting the current players. I think he saw the staggering ability of these young guys and was constantly complimenting them. Every generation of young player came to know him.”
Walton’s wife, Lori and his four sons were at Thursday’s game.
More Silver bullets: The commissioner also addressed the issue of the Mavericks being fined $750,000 for openly tanking the final two games of the 2022-23 season to give them their best chance of keeping their No. 10 draft pick, which they did.
They parlayed that into Dereck Lively II with the 12th pick, along with O-Max Prosper.
Lively has been a major part of the Mavericks’ run to the NBA Finals.
“Incentives for teams are something that we continue to examine, modify, calibrate and look for ways to better align incentives,” Silver said. “In terms of what Dallas did last year, we sanctioned them. We did what we thought was appropriate at the time.
“I would only say that the success they saw this season, that they’re now seeing in the Playoffs and here they are at the Finals, I don’t attribute it to one draft pick, as important as that draft pick has been to their team.”
Briefly: Former Maverick and Celtic Delonte West was arrested on Thursday for violation of conditions of his release and resisting arrest in Virginia, according to reports. West, who was part of the Mavericks’ 2011 championship team, has battled substance abuse and talked openly as a player about having bipolar syndrome . . . The Mavericks had just five assists through three quarters on Thursday. According to the Associated Press, that matched the lowest number through three quarters by any team in any game, regular or postseason, in the past three years . . . Among celebrities in the expensive seats on Thursday: Actors Mark and Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy, UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma, Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert and former Mav and Celtic Jason Terry . . . The Celtics now have won eight consecutive playoff games, their longest streak in franchise history in the postseason . . . The Mavericks saw their franchise-record-tying five-game road playoff win streak end.
X: @ESefko
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