Home NBA Jason Kidd removes his name from Trail Blazers’ job

Jason Kidd removes his name from Trail Blazers’ job

Los Angeles Lakers assistant Jason Kidd has withdrawn his name from consideration for the Portland Trail Blazers head coaching vacancy, according to Adrian Wojnarowski.

“Portland’s a first-class organization and will have great candidates for its head coaching job, but I’ve decided not to be one of them,” Kidd told ESPN. “Whoever they choose will have big shoes to fill from Terry (Stotts).”

Kidd was ultimately uncomfortable with the idea of pursuing the opening after Blazers star Damian Lillard publicly called for his hiring within hours of Stotts’ departure on Friday night. The public nature of Lillard’s endorsement — telling Yahoo Sports that “Jason Kidd is the guy I want” — left Kidd feeling he would put both Lillard and Portland’s process in an awkward circumstance should he pursue the opening.

Now that Kidd is no longer a candidate, Los Angeles Clippers assistant Chauncey Billups, former New York Knicks and Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, Brooklyn Nets assistant Mike D’Antoni and Michigan’s Juwan Howard are now among the candidates that the Trail Blazers are expected to consider.

The Trail Blazers have yet to reach out for permission, nor spoken to any of the potential candidates, but they expect to begin that process once the first-round of the playoffs ends today, Wojnarowski notes.

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