Jason Kidd Spills Soda On The Court To Buy Time

In the end, Jason Kidd’s fizzy plot went flat, and now he’ll likely find himself in a sticky situation with the NBA.

Out of timeouts and searching for answers amid another fourth-quarter offensive meltdown Wednesday night, the Nets coach tried something different and underhanded in the final seconds of a 99-94 loss to the Lakers.

Kidd, holding a soda on the sideline with 8.3 seconds left, was caught on video clearly telling Nets point guard Tyshawn Taylor to “hit me.” Taylor then bumped his shoulder into Kidd, whose cup spilled onto the Barclays Center court, causing a delay while the mess was cleaned.

It essentially gave the Nets a free timeout, and perhaps served as a tactic to ice the Lakers’ shooter, Jodie Meeks, who was in between a pair of foul shots when the soda spread. It was a savvy move for a rookie coach trying to navigate an ugly start to the season
Kidd looked away immediately after telling Taylor to hit him, making the contact look accidental. The league will certainly look into the incident.

“That’s vet stuff,” Lakers guard Nick Young told the Daily News. “That’s something you can’t teach. That’s something you have to learn if you’ve been in the league for a while.”

Young believed what the video demonstrated: Kidd did this purposely. Some other Lakers players, including Steve Blake, ran over to the mess and tried to break into Brooklyn’s huddle.

“Yes, most definitely (he was trying to ice Los Angeles’ free throw shooter Jodie Meeks),” Young told The News. “I don’t think they had any more timeouts left so they had to do what they had to do.”

Kidd, meanwhile, had a different explanation before the video evidence started to make its way through social media.

“The cup slipped out of my hand,” Kidd said. “I was getting tired. Sweaty palms. I was never good with the ball. So, in the heat of the battle, you’re trying to get guys in and out of the game, and the Coke fell out of my hand.”

Taylor also denied being part of any sinister plot, but laughed when presented with the video and when asked about the theoretical advantage of such a tactic.

“It might ice a free throw shooter and be a timeout if you don’t have one, but that wasn’t the thought process,” Taylor said. “I just wanted him to get out of the way, like ‘Coach, get out my way bro.’”

Not that it helped the Nets, who had charged all the way back from a 27-point first-half deficit. Meeks buried his free throw, and Paul Pierce missed the potential game-tying three-pointer on the following possession, sending the Nets (4-11) to their eighth loss in 10 games. Brooklyn missed six of its final seven field-goal attempts. Kidd must’ve drawn up a pretty good play during his soda timeout, however, as Pierce got an open look that clanged off the rim.

Young, who led the Lakers (8-8) with 26 points in 33 minutes, said it was the first time he had seen a coach spill his drink to gain an advantage, calling it “a good trick.” Retired coach Mike Fratello, however, said on the Nets game telecast that it was a common ploy he sometimes used and learned from former Nets coach Kevin Loughery.

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