Milwaukee Bucks training camp is still about a few weeks away from kicking off, but Jason Kidd is already making the most of his time in the Cream City.
Milwaukee is the fifth city that Jason has called home since leaving his northern California roots for the NBA, and the transition as new Bucks head coach has gone as smoothly as any.
While taking in a recent Milwaukee Brewers game, Coach Kidd took some time out to speak with Jim Owczarski of OnMilwaukee.com and discussed how he feels about his new city and what he expects from his young Bucks squad.
“The people have been great,” Jason said. “It’s been the Midwest. It’s just been something that when you talk about everybody being polite, saying hello, very gracious, very excited talking about the Bucks and looking forward to the season. Maybe that hasn’t been in the past, but we’ve got great, great owners, we’ve got a great young team, so it’s been nice.”
Jason’s wife Porschla told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Charles F. Gardner that the couple and their kids have embraced Milwaukee from the start.
“Everyone is, ‘Gosh, why are you so excited and happy about this move? You’re moving to Milwaukee from New York City.’ It’s like, you know what, I can make anyplace home,” Porschla said. This is home now and I’m happy with that.”
Porschla also noted that the Midwestern hospitality of Milwaukee has been second to none from anything that she’s experienced.
“My neighbors baked us brownies. That’s the first time that’s ever happened to me,” she said. “They brought them over and said, ‘Welcome to the neighborhood and welcome to Milwaukee.’ It was really nice. Who does that, right? It was really nice and made us feel at home.”
Entering just his second year as a coach in the NBA, J-Kidd was able to reflect back on his playing career and compare making moves as a player to doing so as a coach. His career map started in Dallas after his collegiate career at the University of California-Berkeley and life growing up in the San Francisco Bay area.
From Dallas, Jason went to Phoenix, then to New Jersey, back to Dallas and finally to New York, where he played one year for the Knicks and then moved into coaching the Brooklyn Nets last season.
“I think it’s the small print when you sign up as an athlete or as an NBA player. There’s the potential of movement, different area codes,” Jason told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “You have to be ready for that. There are some very rare players like Dirk (Nowitzki) or Kobe (Bryant) who have the opportunity to play in one place. That’s just part of the business.”
But the move is a little different now that Jason has entered the coaching ranks. He noted that while relocation is just as tiring mentally, it is much easier not having to discover a new city while also practicing and working out every day.
“Physically, yes,” he said with laugh when asked if moving is easier as a coach. “Physically because you work out – not to say I don’t work out – but I don’t try to kill myself during the summer working out.”
“I think coaching is a little bit different because it never stops,” he said. “Because you’re always thinking how to make your players better, put them in a better situation to be successful.”
Without having to keep in game shape, J-Kidd has been able to enjoy some family time while exploring the Milwaukee area. That has included trips to Miller Park for Brewers games and many of the major sightseeing destinations around town.
“We’ve definitely gone to the park, we’ve gone to the museum, to Discovery (World) – people say it’s cold here, but the weather has been absolutely beautiful,” he said. “The lake is beautiful, we’ve gone to dinner, we’ve been to Carnevor, we’ve been to a couple other sushi places, we walked around the market, the public market, so we’ve done a couple things.”
Jason did note that the expectation is for the weather to cool, and that the Kidd’s will be ready for that. He’s just happy to have been welcomed so strongly by the people of Milwaukee.
“It gets cold on the East Coast, no matter where you are,” he said. “The beauty of coming here, the people have been wonderful.”
Of course, having been in the NBA now for two decades, Jason has been to the city of Milwaukee dozens of times. However, those icy winter trips were often quick ducks in and out of the city—so actually enjoying the Wisconsin town has been a welcome change.
“You get to see it differently,” he said with a smile. “This is different. When you look at coming as an opponent, you came it was cold and you tried to get into the hotel as quick as possible and it was a quick turnaround. So, you didn’t get to go out to go to a different restaurant or see the city itself. It’s a lot better than being on that other side of the coin, coming in in less than 24 hours, to get to see Milwaukee.”
