Con il sottostante link potrete guardare e ascoltare la conferenza stampa di presentazione di Jason Kidd a Dallas.
Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban (opening statement)
“I’ll keep it short and simple. Obviously, we are here because Donnie (Nelson) got a new coat and we want to show it off. No. Obviously, we are really, really excited to announce the return of Jason Kidd to Dallas. Jason doesn’t know this, but he was the reason I bought season tickets to the Mavs originally way back when. He was exciting to watch then. He’s exciting to watch now. Along with Malik Allen and my wife’s homeboy from Texas A&M, Antoine Wright, I think we’ve really taken a step forward toward making this team a real contender for a championship.”
Head Coach Avery Johnson (opening statement)
“We’re excited to have all three of these men join our family. I think this is a great day for the Mavericks. There are no guarantees in life, but we feel we have a better opportunity to win a championship with these three men as a part of our team. We’ve been pursuing this for some time. Finally, we are able to get it done because of all of Mark’s and Donnie’s and Keith Grant’s hard work. And everybody on the Jersey side also that were involved. But again, this is a great day for me to have an outstanding quarterback join our team. Somebody that, when you’re in the red zone, can help you get touchdowns and that’s what we want. Malik Allen and Antoine, we’re also glad to have them. I was sharing with them a story. When Mark traded for Raef LaFrentz and Nick Van Exel years ago, I was actually just called the “throw in.” But I told them I think this is a great opportunity. Obviously, all of you guys are going to be focusing only on Jason, but they can come in and get some minutes and be a part of this whole deal also. This is a great day for us. We feel this inches us a little closer. We obviously understand that the competition is fierce and we’re not afraid of competition, that’s why we’re here. Thanks again for coming out. We’re excited to have all of them here.”
Jason Kidd (opening statement)
“Well, I’m just very happy that this deal is done. I’m happy to be back here in Dallas. I’m happy that Mark, Don and Coach believe in my talent and my teammates’ talent and we can help the Mavs in pursuing that ultimate goal of a championship. I’m just really excited to be back for a second opportunity. I’m a little bit older, I’ve played a lot of basketball, seen a lot of stuff. So, hopefully, I can share that with my teammates and play hard and have fun.”
Malik Allen (statement)
“This is a great opportunity for myself and Antoine and Jason. Opportunities like this don’t come along too often when you get a chance to play for a contender. So I’m obviously very excited for the opportunity to be around a great organization, great teammates. I’m just hoping to make the best of it. Like I said, I have a great opportunity to play in Dallas.”
Antoine Wright (statement)
“Obviously, I’m happy to be back in Texas. Excited to be playing on a good team, excited to still be with Jason. I’m just excited to be part of a winning team. I’m going to try to do my best to make an impact on the court.”
Cuban (on why it was time to make a deal)
“We’ve said since the day I bought the team that we are going to try to be opportunistic. Coach and Donnie are involved in constant discussions on what we can do to improve ourselves and 99.9 percent of the time, the discussions lead to nothing. In this particular case, the timing was right and we had an opportunity to get Jason. We just thought he would be a great fit in the organization.”
Johnson (on what Kidd brings offensively)
“We just want him to be Jason Kidd. That’s what we’re looking for. There are a lot of responsibilities we have as a coach during games, practices. We feel he can take some of that responsibility and run with it because it’s natural for him. We also have really looked at our team since I took over almost three years now. We looked at all three years of playoffs and how we finished the regular season and playoffs and we feel his skill set can help us, hopefully, finish the season stronger, finish games better, and hopefully do a better job of closing out some series. Obviously, he’s not the guy we are going to lean on for points, points, points, points, points. You know, he’s over your right shoulder [referencing Dirk Nowitzki]. He’s going to help us, but at the end of games, he just knows how to win. When you look at what does over his career, you look at what he did with our National team this summer, whether it’s a big steal, a big blocked shot, a rebound, a big three, penetration, he knows how to finish games. And that’s what we are looking for.”
Kidd (on what he and Nowitzki can do together)
“I think the big thing is, it’s not geometry, it’s basketball, so it’s just a matter of both of us being ourselves. He understands how to play the game at a high level. And so, hopefully, I can continue. I think we can both make each other better. Not just us, but our teammates better. The sky’s the limit. If we can stay healthy, we’ll see what happens. We have 29 games for the regular season and then the postseason.”
Kidd (on playing in two Finals series)
“I think a lot of us play this game, or any sport, in order to be a champion and to win the ultimate prize. There are no guarantees, but at the end of the day, if you give 100% and if you can go home and say I gave it everything and I can’t wait to come back tomorrow and do it again, then Coach or Mark would be happy. I’ve been there (the Finals) twice. The first time, we were happy to be there. The second time, we had a great opportunity but San Antonio was a better team. There’s no better feeling, there’s no bigger stage that you can perform on once you do get to the Finals. There’s no bigger reward that to have that Championship trophy in your hand. That’s why I’m here.”
Cuban (on watching Kidd at the All-Star Game)
“Watching some of those passes, I got to think about Dirk, JET (Jason Terry), Stack (Jerry Stackhouse), Damp (Erick Dampier) and their eyes lighting up. You could just see the wisdom and the experience that Jason brings. It’s just so natural and so fluid to put the ball where the ball needed to go.”
Kidd (on choosing to wear No. 2)
“Well, Josh (Howard) has No. 5 and he’s done a lot of great things with that number so it never entered my mind to ask for that number. I could have gone with 14. One plus four is five. But I thought this was a good number to have, two, because it’s my second time here. And in some odd way, I thought, the curves, the number could be a five but not exactly.”
Cuban (on the decision to make the move)
“I don’t think there was a moment when we thought we had to change it up. I think it was just being opportunistic. We’ve always said all along, if the right deal comes along, we’ll take a look at it. That was it more than anything. Coach and I were talking. We were both like ‘we really, really like our team. If it’s the right move, do it. If it’s not the right move, don’t do it.’ We’ve always had the attitude that we have a team that could win a championship this year coming in.”
Johnson (on evaluating the team)
“We’re always in evaluating mode. Especially pre-trade deadline, we’re always looking at our team. You guys have heard me before, we liked our team. But at the same time, you don’t like it enough that if something comes up like Jason Kidd that you don’t take a look at it. He’s one of the top point guards in the league. We haven’t had a point guard like this. We’ve had some players here who poured their heart and soul into this organization that we’ve invested a lot it. And they did a heck of a job for me, for Mark, for Donnie, for the whole organization. But there aren’t going to be many times we had a chance to get a player, and players, of this caliber. We talked about it, we looked at it, we talked about the pros and cons of it. We’re not emotional in these deals. There’s a lot of preparation and planning and film study and taking a look at the rosters. We spent a lot of time on this one so it didn’t just happen overnight.”
Nelson (on the trade)
“The popular sentiment out there is that this is a reaction. It’s not. The discussions actually started taking place before any other deals were done. This is all about us looking internally at our team and seeing what gives our best chance to win a championship. And this is pretty much the long and short of it. Jason, as you guys know, there’s a difference between aspiring young players and All-Stars and there’s another level from All-Stars and Hall of Famers and one of the greatest players to ever play his position. And I think those are the kinds of discussions we internally had to make this decision”
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L’ARRIVO A DALLAS E LA CONFERENZA STAMPA
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 1995
A DALLAS 1994-1996
CAMPIONE OLIMPICO A SIDNEY 2000
A PHOENIX
IN NEW JERSEY
STEFANO FIORUCCI 