Mavericks Unexpectedly Fire Head Coach Jason Kidd After 5 Seasons: Report

The Dallas Mavericks' future now revolves around 2025 Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg, and after a 25–56 season, it was clear major changes were coming - primarily to the roster.

However, on Tuesday, after a revamped front office was put in place with team president Masai Ujiri and general manager Mike Schmitz, Dallas unexpectedly decided to mutually part ways with head coach Jason Kidd.

Kidd spent five seasons as the team's head coach, leading the Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals in both 2022 and 2024, the latter of which ended in an NBA Finals loss to the Boston Celtics.

He still had four years and well over $40 million remaining on his contract, but the decision was reportedly made this week by Ujiri and Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

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Kidd played a key role in the development of Flagg during his rookie season and is difficult to fully blame for the team's struggles, considering Kyrie Irving missed the entire season, multiple other injuries impacted the roster, and the team also traded away Luka Doncic during the 2024–25 campaign - a move that clearly set them back and was largely outside his control.

Nonetheless, the Mavericks are expected to begin their head coaching search immediately, and Kidd now becomes one of the more prominent names available if he chooses to continue coaching in the NBA.

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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 5:50 PM.