NBA

Nets coach Kidd shrugs off fine for drink drop

HOUSTON — Jason Kidd’s decision to spill a drink on the court late in Wednesday’s loss to the Lakers was a costly one. But despite Paul Pierce failing to knock down the open look he got off the play, drawn up by assistant coach John Welch, and Kidd being hit with a $50,000 fine, the Nets coach wasn’t ready to say he had any regrets.

“It’s about trying to win and those guys in that locker room,” Kidd said before the Nets’ 114-95 loss to the Rockets on Friday night. “I tried to put those guys in a position to get a basket, a good look, and we did.”

Even two days later, Kidd’s actions remained one of the biggest topics of discussion around the league after the NBA handed down a bigger fine than most expected Kidd would get.

“Expensive,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale said when asked about his thoughts on the fine.

After video surfaced after Wednesday’s 99-94 loss of Kidd saying, “hit me,” to Tyshawn Taylor before running into him in between Jodie Meeks’ two free throws with 8.3 seconds left and the Nets trailing 96-94 at the time, a fine seemed inevitable.

Kidd’s action allowed Welch to draw up a nice play for Pierce to go around a Kevin Garnett screen. Pierce found himself wide open at the top of the key for a potential game-tying 3-pointer that rimmed out in the dying seconds.

“Paul got a great look and the league fined me for something I probably shouldn’t have done,” Kidd said. “We move on.”

Kidd said he picked up the move from past conversations with other coaches and owners around the league. During Wednesday’s telecast on the YES Network, former coach Mike Fratello said he used it at times to get an extra time out during his coaching career, and one of Kidd’s former employers, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, tweeted out a link to a video Friday of Vinny Del Negro pulling the same stunt while coaching the Bulls in a game against the Mavericks when Kidd was playing there.

Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni, however, was less than thrilled with Kidd’s decision to spill his drink on the floor.

Speaking to reporters in Auburn Hills, Mich., where the Lakers defeated the Pistons Friday, D’Antoni said he has no problem with Kidd moving forward, but made it clear he wasn’t a fan of the move.

“I knew he was going to get caught,” D’Antoni said. “He can’t do that. That’s crazy. He can’t do that. It’s cute for a lot of people, but he can’t do that. I’m glad they [the league] did it. He can’t do that, that’s nuts.”

D’Antoni said coaches have tricks up their sleeves to try and gain an advantage at times, but said Kidd actually breaking the rules went beyond the proper code of conduct for coaches.

“Not like that,” D’Antoni said. “That’s against the rules.

“You can’t do that. You have … No. No. I don’t think that’s very savvy or cool. I love Jason to death. He’s going to be a great coach, but you can’t do that.”

D’Antoni also said he was happy two of his players, guards Steve Blake and Xavier Henry, worked their way close to the Nets’ huddle to see the play Welch was drawing up for Pierce, even though they didn’t manage to defend it very well.

“I’m glad they did,” D’Antoni said. “They should. He can’t do that.

The Lakers players, however, weren’t as upset as D’Antoni about Kidd’s decision.

“We knew they did something illegal just to stop the play,” Henry said. “Once they started drawing up their little play for the last part of the game, I didn’t see it at first. I saw Steve Blake over there and I was like, ‘Well, might as well,’ so I just got in their huddle and watched them draw up the last play.’”

Still, Henry thought it was a pretty impressive move in the moment for Kidd to pull off.

“I think that was one of the quickest on-your-feet things [you could do],” Henry said.

“I would still say that was definitely creative. I’ve never seen anything like it. But it’s not worth $50,000.”

Eventually, though, Kidd said after opening his checkbook and paying the fine, it simply is time to move on from the incident.

“It’s over with. That’s behind me,” Kidd said. “There’s nothing to really talk about. It’s done, so I’ve got to move forward with it.”

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Sitting near the Nets bench was an entrepreneurial fan sporting a white T-shirt that read, “4 SALE COLA & ICE $50,000 PER CUP HIT ME UP.”