After two weeks in his new job, the new president, Masai Ujiri, has taken his first big decision. The warning signs were there when he previously appeared non-committal about Jason Kidd’s immediate future. J-Kidd wanted a different role with the franchise, but was denied that opportunity, and now the Dallas Mavericks have mutually decided to bring an end to the five-season run.

In those five seasons, Kidd had a 205-205 overall record with the Mavs. Most notably, Dallas was 22-18 in the playoffs, advancing to the 2022 Western Conference finals and the 2024 NBA Finals. Despite the record, Ujiri, in his May 5 introductory news conference, was unsure about the then-head coach’s future. “He’s done a great job, but we are going to look at this thing from head to toe,” Ujiri said. “That’s the right way to look at an organization and evaluate in every single way we can.” Now the ‘head to toe’ search is complete, with the 53-year-old not in charge.

“As we evaluate the future of our basketball program, we believe this is the right moment for a new direction for our team,” Ujiri said in a statement. “We have high expectations for this franchise and a responsibility to build a basketball organization capable of sustained championship contention. We will conduct a thorough, disciplined search for our next head coach and continue to evaluate our entire basketball operations staff to ensure we compete at the standard Mavs fans expect and deserve.” While J-Kidd had four years and more than $40 million remaining on his contract, there is a reason he left early.

After the Dallas’ NBA Finals run in 2024, Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont extended Kidd’s contract. In fact, the former point guard turned head coach received another extension as they declined the New York Knicks’ request to interview him for the head coaching job before signing Mike Brown. While the governor granted multiple extensions, he had no plans for Jason Kidd’s front office role demands.

ESPN reported, “Kidd had expressed a desire to be promoted to president of basketball operations after general manager Nico Harrison was fired in November, but Dumont informed Kidd months ago that he wouldn’t be considered for the front office.” Naturally, he was kept out of the loop in the process that resulted in Ujiri’s hiring. All these decisions get tied to the shocking move from the franchise when they traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package headlined by Anthony Davis in February 2025.

Just eight months later, then-President Nico Harrison was fired. Now the Mavs have parted ways with Jason Kidd, and new president Masai Ujiri had full authorization over that decision.

Shocking reaction from the NBA world after Jason Kidd’s departure

While the Mavs had made the change, let’s not forget we have an Eastern Conference Finals matchup featuring the Knicks and the Cavs. Hall of Famer Charles Barkley was on Inside the NBA when the news dropped, and his reaction was priceless. “Oh my goodness. Jason Kidd just got fired,” exclaimed Chuck. “Man, that’s a shocker there. Breaking news. It just came on my phone.”

He described it as a shocker, and the former majority owner of the franchise, Mark Cuban, was surprised by this.“Obviously I’m a jkidd fan,” Cuban wrote in an email to FOX 4. “So I’m surprised and disappointed. But we have to give Masai a chance to see what happens. He has been through this before.” Let’s not forget, it was Cuban who previously accused Jason Kidd of being involved in trading Doncic. But then the Mavs’ head coach claimed innocence and explained he wasn’t aware of the deal until “the 11th hour.”

It seems the friction from the Doncic trade continued to strain the relationship. And the nail in the coffin was probably the move to decline Jason Kidd to take over the front office role.