You've Got to be Kidd-ing Me

Like that title? The NBA is pun-tastic!

I've been debating whether to post this (especially because my next post is going to be about how awesome Devin Harris is), because it will just lead to people calling me a Jason Kidd hater or other such nonsense. Just because I was, am, and will always be against the Harris-Kidd trade doesn't mean that I hate Jason Kidd. In fact, Kidd has been responsible for bringing me great joy in many instances. Here are just a few:

1. Watching him lead Cal to an upset over Duke in the second round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament (one of my five favorite tourney games of all time).

2. Listening to "People Wanna Know What the Kidd Did" by Kidd himself on B-Ball's Finest, a transcendent album that paired NBA ballers with rappers.

3. Seeing him breath life into Team USA last summer.

So I've got nothing against Kidd. Sure, he has more than his fair share of domestic squabbles and his free throw routine is incredibly annoying, but the good outweighs the bad, I think.

Anyway, disclaimers aside, this post isn't even really about Kidd. Nor is it about Crazy Avery Johnson. Or Harris. It's about Kevin Harlen and Doug Collins the TNT duo that single-handedly ruined last night's telecast of the Spurs and Mavs.

How did they ruin it? Simply by crediting every single good Dallas play to Kidd, even when he wasn't involved. A simple handoff from Kidd to Josh Howard was followed by a sweet, twisting layup by Howard. The call from Harlen: "Jason Kidd does it again!" Dirk gets an iso in the high post and finds a cutter (as he's done thousands of times). The call from Collins: "Jason Kidd is just so infectious. Passing has become contagious on this team." Brandon Bass pump fakes, drives, and throws down on Tim Duncan (by the way, Bass is going to be a handful for Duncan if these times meet in the postseason). The call from Harlen: "Bass with the dunk! Oh my, this team is playing at such a fast pace thanks to Kidd."

I mean, it was ridiculous. Kidd played okay in the contest, dishing out 10 assists and executing a nice steal and layup in the third quarter, but he was about the 7th most impressive player on the floor. Dirk was a beast getting to the foul line, Bass was terrific, Howard looked really good, Manu has his moments, Finley (once again) turned on the Time Machine, and Duncan was fantastic. Why are we getting so excited about Kidd?

I understand this is how the media rolls. They get all worked up whenever there is a trade or a player coming back from injury and they ascribe everything that happens to said player. But this was beyond anything I've ever seen, probably because Kidd's value has always been based, at least in part, on intangibles, which gave them liberty to credit Kidd with everything from a teammate's good pass to the consistency of the butter on the popcorn. They had no constraints.

Anyway, the whole thing made the game unbearable. And if it keeps up, then I'm skipping all Mavs games until the playoffs.