Jason Kidd addressed the media ahead of the Dallas Mavericks home game against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. Kidd had skipped his media availability following the team's last-second loss to the Sacramento Kings in front of a rapidly-shrinking crowd thanks to fallout from the Luka Doncic trade.
Speaking about the Mavs' big man situation, Kidd did not sound happy—and who could blame him?
Anthony Davis suffered an adductor strain in his Mavericks debut and could be out for a month. Dereck Lively II is out for a few months with a stress fracture in his ankle. Dwight Powell hasn't played since January because of a hip strain and Daniel Gafford suffered a sprained knee during Monday's loss.
That leaves the Mavericks with Kaylor Kelley as their starting center. Kelley, who went undrafted out of Oregon State in 2020, has appeared in five games in his career, all of which have all taken place in the last two-and-a-half weeks.
It doesn't sound like the vibes are great.
Jason Kidd addresses the center position tonight. #MFFL pic.twitter.com/tWe7P5ZVTF
— DLLS Sports (@DLLS_Sports) February 13, 2025
"Everybody's gonna play center," said Kidd. "Some of those guys don't want to play center because everybody's getting hurt, so, we're small. We're going to play hard and we're going to try to find a way to win with the group that can suit up."
Other than the 7'0" Kelley, the Mavericks don't have anyone over 6'7" suiting up.
Kidd must pine for the days when he had enough healthy players to say "our bench stinks."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jason Kidd Sounded Defeated Describing the Mavericks’ Center Situation.
