Jason Kidd wasn’t out of the game for long.

The Brooklyn Nets announced on Wednesday night that Jason will become the 18th coach in franchise history just over a week after he retired as a player following 19 NBA seasons.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to be named head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, and it’s a role I have been studying for over the course of my playing days,” Jason said. “Championship teams are built on being prepared, playing unselfishly and being held accountable, and that’s how I expect to coach this basketball team. I am truly excited about this next phase of my basketball career.”

Of his 19 NBA seasons, Jason spent six-and-a-half as a member of the Nets while the team resided in New Jersey and led the franchise on a spectacular resurgence, highlighted by back-to-back NBA Finals trips in 2002 and 2003.

“Jason Kidd has a long and legendary history with the Nets and with the city of New York,” said Nets Principal Owner Mikhail Prokhorov. “He has the fire in the belly we need, and has achieved as a player everything the Brooklyn Nets are striving to achieve. We believe he will lead us there. Welcome home, Jason.”

J-Kidd played in 506 games over six and a half seasons for the Nets, averaging 14.6 points, 9.1 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game. During his time with the Nets, he led the team to six consecutive playoff appearances, including two Eastern Conference Championships and four Atlantic Division titles. As a Net, J-Kidd was selected as an NBA All-Star five times while being named to an All-NBA team three times and an NBA All-Defensive team six times.

Over the course of his career as a whole, Jason was a Rookie of the Year selection, a 10-time All-Star, a six-time All-NBA selection, including five on the first team, a nine-time NBA All-Defensive selection, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a NBA Champion with the 2010-2011 Dallas Mavericks.

“On behalf of the Nets organization, I am very pleased to welcome Jason Kidd as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets,” said King. “Jason is a proven winner and leader with an incredible wealth of basketball knowledge and experience. This will be a natural transition for him to move into the role of head coach, as he embodies the tough, smart and team-first mentality that we are trying to establish in Brooklyn.”

Jason currently ranks first in Nets history in assists (4,620), steals (950), three-point field goals made (813) and triple-doubles 61, second in minutes played (18,737), fourth in points (7,373) and rebounds (3,662), fifth in games played (506) and sixth in field goals made (2,613) and free throws made (1,352).

J-Kidd also played in 78 playoff games as a member of the Nets and holds franchise playoff records for points, assists, rebounds, steals, field goals made/attempted, three-point field goals made/attempted, minutes and games played.

The Nets will introduce Jason as the 18th coach in franchise history on Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. EDT at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The press conference will be aired live on the YES Network and streamed online at BrooklynNets.com.