Mavericks coach Jason Kidd explains skipping postgame media session

After the Dallas Mavericks lost Monday’s game to the Sacramento Kings, coach Jason Kidd skipped his usual postgame meeting with the media. On Wednesday, we found out why.

He just needed some time.

“I felt bad,” Kidd said, in a video shared by Joey Mistretta of Clutch Sports before Wednesday’s game against the Golden State Warriors. “I thank you for your grace and the NBA for their grace…We lost a tough game. We lost another player. So I just needed some time to regroup, refocus and figure out how to put these pieces back together.”

In fairness to Kidd, it’s been tough sledding for the Mavericks since the controversial Luka Dončić trade. The team is 2-3. And while that’s not abysmal, the injuries have been rough. Anthony Davis, Dallas’ primary return in the trade, played brilliantly in his first game with the Mavericks, only to get hurt. Center Daniel Gafford was injured during Monday’s game. Both players will be out for an extended period. Monday’s game was also a tough loss to the Sacramento Kings. So nothing Kidd said was wrong. Of course, Kidd is human. When things aren’t going well, we all need some time to regroup.

That said, the team’s loss and Gafford’s injury weren’t the only storylines to come out of Monday’s game. Mavericks fans — who had already made their frustrations with the trade well-known — were ejected from Dallas’ American Airlines Center for calling for general manager Nico Harrison to be fired. Much like the trade itself, that decision earned the Mavericks plenty of criticism. And while the decision to eject fans wasn’t Kidd’s, those kinds of things generally call for the head coach to answer the tough questions. That’s part of the job.

So, while Kidd needing some time to regroup is understandable, that was not the best postgame to take that time.