Jason Kidd, team player.

[BYH]

Well, didn't he say he never demanded that Bryon Scott get fired? I think that's been pretty much proven a lie.

and every denial by the Nets back then was carefully worded. Like this one:

"I want to reiterate that this was an erroneous story without merit — Jason Kidd has never asked nor demanded that Coach Scott be fired, and to be portrayed otherwise is an injustice to Jason as well as Coach Scott," Thorn said Thursday in a statement.

Plausible deniability. If his agent makes the demand, then technically Kidd's got nothing to do with it.

Kidd's been passive-aggressively trying to get out of Jersey for years. It's gotten really obvious this year, with all the gushing over LeBron James and all their texting and Kidd saying he'd be willing to play a complementary role on a contender once this deal expires. So why would he be telling the truth about his migraine?

 

[Webster]

Because, whatever his problem with Scott or management, he has never let it show on the court. I've watched a lot of Nets games over the past decade, and Kidd is the hardest working player on that team during that time. He played on one leg before he had knee surgery and came back early while logging ridiculous minutes. I've never seen him dog for parts of games it the way that the other stars on that team have done.

 

[Stoney]

Because, whatever his problem with Scott or management, he has never let it show on the court. I've watched a lot of Nets games over the past decade, and Kidd is the hardest working player on that team during that time. He played on one leg before he had knee surgery and came back early while logging ridiculous minutes. I've never seen him dog for parts of games it the way that the other stars on that team have done.

I'll give you that Kidd is a ferocious competitor and always busts his butt ON the court. But I'm not sure what that has to do with whether he's a dishonest or manipulative person OFF the court.

Ole "Charlie Hustle" Pete Rose was once considered to be the most fiercely competitive hardest working player on the field baseball, but that didn't stop him from being a lying scumbag off it.

 

[BYH]

I just think he's an incredibly deceitful guy. And he could still spin himself as someone who never quits on the floor because he didn't play last night.

 

[Webster]

So you're just guessing based on nothing.

 

[BYH]

So you're just guessing based on nothing.

I'm guessing based on his history. And my bull**** detector was perked way up, especially once Kidd "explained" things away.

Why would every paper (sans the Times) run with this story? What do the Nets have to gain by making up falsehoods about the face of their franchise--the guy who single-handedly reversed decades of futility? It smells to me like the Nets are sick of his crap. They're less than two years from being free of him. Seems to me they figure it's a good time to start standing up to him and calling his bluff.

 

[Webster]

It's no secret that he's unhappy with the team's prospects. But that's a hell of a leap based on his dedication to the franchise over the past six years to call him a liar.