Jason Kidd on Emmanuel Mudiay: 'He'll be better' than I was
Jason Kidd is a surefire hall-of-fame point guard, and arguably one of the best to ever play the position. He's second all-time in assists, and near the top of the leaderboard in a host of other categories. He enjoyed a long, successful career and is considered one of the greats of the game.
But Kidd, now the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, thinks Denver Nuggets rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay will be even better than him.
Here's what Kidd told Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post after coaching against him for the first time.
“At 19 years old, he’s very talented,” Kidd said. “He’s running the team, he’s not afraid to take a big shot. Some people have said that he can’t shoot, but he finds a way to put the ball in the basket. I think he enjoys to play the game, and I think for me, watching the tape on him is exciting. To see a 19-year old being able to run a team with his poise, and then also his skills. He has skills at the age of 19.”
Asked if Mudiay compares favorably to him when he first broke into the NBA back in 1994, Kidd smiled again.
“He’ll be better,” Kidd said. “He’s better already. Being able to run an NBA team at 19 is not easy. You look at some of the greats — Magic (Johnson) was able to do it. And you’re looking at this kid Mudiay, who has the opportunity to do something special. So, I would encourage him to be better than me, and I think he will be at the end of the day.”
