The story has been told, re-told and is the stuff of legend about Jason Kidd — the Nets’ newest head coach.
The All-Star point guard, after just being acquired from Phoenix, asked to speak to the team before the start of the 2001 training camp. That would be a team coming off a typical Nets 26-victory season.
“We’re going to the playoffs,” Kidd flatly predicted. They did just that as Kidd changed the culture, the fortunes, the very nature of a losing organization.
Now more than a decade later, that same organization is turning once again to Kidd, who will become the 18th head coach in the team’s NBA history.
Kidd and the Nets formally reached agreement on a three-year deal, with a possible fourth year involved, Wednesday night. Kidd, who led the Nets to two NBA Finals and six playoff spots, will be formally introduced Thursday at 2 p.m. in Brooklyn.
“Jason is a proven winner and leader with an incredible wealth of basketball knowledge and experience,” Nets general manager Billy King said in a statement released by the team. “This will be a natural transition for him … as he embodies the tough, smart and team-first mentality that we are trying to establish in Brooklyn.”
Kidd impressed everybody who listened with his enthusiasm and passion, and with his unbridled desire for the job. His fire came through again in his first job-related statement that also reflected how he played — which was to make everyone around him better.
“Championship teams are built on being prepared, playing unselfishly and being held accountable, and that’s how I expect to coach this basketball team,” said Kidd, who is close friends with Nets point guard Deron Williams. “I am truly excited about this next phase of my basketball career.”
Kidd has no coaching experience. He retired just 10 days ago following 19 seasons of brilliance in a career that undoubtedly will lead to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. The Nets call him their 18th head coach, but that includes a six-game regular season stint by Bill Blair in 1983.
Kidd intends to surround himself with an experienced staff. The obvious name, that of former Nets and Pistons head coach Lawrence Frank, has been mentioned. Other who have surfaced in various reports are highly regarded and longtime NBA assistant Tim Grgurich as well as former Heat, Pistons, Clippers and Suns head coach Alvin Gentry.
The man many recently considered the front-runner, Pacers assistant Brian Shaw, met with Nets officials for several hours yesterday about the position, and though the meeting was termed “very good” by one person close to the situation, Kidd would not be dislodged. Kidd was so strongly entrenched as the odds-on choice both sides had discussed the parameters of a contract even before the meeting with Shaw.
Kidd’s candidacy had the enthusiastic support of ownership which never hurts.
“Jason Kidd has a long and legendary history with the Nets and with the city of New York,” principal owner Mikhail Prokhorov said in the team’s statement. “He has the fire in the belly we need, and has achieved as a player everything the Brooklyn Nets are striving to achieve. We believe he will lead us there. Welcome home, Jason.”
Kidd left $6 million on the Knicks’ table to pursue his coaching ambition.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to be named head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, and it’s a role I have been studying for over the course of my playing days,” Kidd said.
The three-year deal coincides with the length of the extension signed by King late in the season.
There is a massive risk in choosing an untested commodity for such a high profile job — these are not the Nets inherited by Byron Scott or Avery Johnson or any number of poor souls before them whose first task was boning up on the lottery. This is a playoff team coming off a season that equaled the second greatest win total (49) in the franchise’s NBA history. Plus there are the red flags surrounding Kidd’s off-court escapades, including last July’s DWI incident days after signing with the Knicks.
fred.kerber@nypost.com