"I’ve Played This Game. I Played It. I Know What The Fuck I’m Doing." - Jason Kidd Went Off On The Media For Doubting His Decision To Play Cooper Flagg At Point Guard

Sam Hodde. Getty Images.

When it comes to the point guard position, you'd be hard pressed to find a better one in all of NBA history than Jason Kidd. He's 3rd all time in assists with 12,091, 6th all time in triple doubles with 107, 19th all time in 3PM with 1,988 and that's with not even really being able to shoot in the early parts of his career. The point is, when you are making a Mount Rushmore of point guards in NBA history, Jason Kidd is in that discussion.

Earlier this season, with Kyrie Irving sidelined with his ACL injury, Kidd had a stretch where he ran Cooper Flagg as the de facto point guard. There was some pushback on that idea, that it was too much to put on a rookie's plate. That it wasn't setting Flagg up for success. I never really got that angle, because in my mind, Cooper Flagg is essentially from the Jayson Tatum archetype. His future is a two-way monster wing who is also the offensive hub that everything runs through, and that involves initiating offense/point guard duties. There's a reason Flagg repeatedly talks about how Tatum is his favorite player. What went wrong during that experiment was that there was really no other ball handler on the floor with Flagg during those minutes, and the spacing was pretty brutal. You combine that with normal rookie NBA growing pains, and it wasn't so much the idea of playing Flagg at point guard/running things through him, but more so what the rest of the lineups looked like during those minutes.

Since then, Flagg has gotten more comfortable at the NBA level and has started to show exactly why he's a franchise talent. 

After his big game (34 points), Kidd was asked about those early days with Cooper running the point, and let's just say he had a few things to get off his chest

Kidd: "Criticism? That’s your opinion. You guys write that bullshit. That’s not — I’ve done this. I’ve played this game. I played it. I know what the fuck I’m doing. "I don’t give a fuck what you guys write because you guys have never played the game. I build players, so I know what the fuck I’m doing. So if I take criticism, it only makes me better, because if I wasn’t doing it right, you guys wouldn’t be poking holes in what I’ve done."

Listen, he's not wrong. Just look at how Flagg has grown since October. I'd also say the same thing for Max Christie. I'm going to assume that Flagg's development as a passer, his ability to read defenses and initiate offense has something to do with one of the best point guards in NBA history helping along the way. That doesn't mean that Kidd is a perfect coach who never makes mistakes. Again, the early lineup decisions during that experimentation weren't the best, but I do think he's well within his rights to talk his shit when it comes to player development, especially with the role they have Flagg in.

As it turned out, Flagg just needed more reps in that situation, which is something Kidd obviously knew. If his ceiling is being the franchise player, well franchise players at his position do everything. In order to get to that point, you have to live it. You have to make mistakes and grow. The only way to reach that point in the NBA is through experience and reps. Then once it all clicks, you have yourself an MVP caliber player. 

So shoutout Jason Kidd for talking his shit. Basically told the media to go watch the tape, so collectively, let's watch it!