Calvin Watkins spoke with Jason Kidd about his future after the Mavericks' loss to the Spurs, and the point guard admitted that an extended work stoppage has the potential to end his career.
"I'm just concentrating on this season," Kidd said after his Mavericks lost the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night, 97-91. "I take it one game at a time. When that time comes I will address that situation, but if there was a lockout and if there was no season, I probably would walk away because at 39, 40 years old, that is just too much for me to train and get back in shape."
Kidd turns 38 on Wednesday and is already one of the oldest players in the league. The Mavericks are protecting his minutes, which are down to a career low of 33.5 per game, after he averaged 35.6 and 36.0 in his first two full seasons back in Dallas. Kidd is also averaging a career low 8.1 points per game, as his attempts are down to 7.6 and his field goal percentage is down to 36.7%, also down significantly from the past two seasons (41.6% and 42.3%). He averages less than three shots from inside the arc per game.
Though the Mavericks' most promising young player is guard Rodrigue Beaubois, the club does not have a true heir apparent to Kidd. Beaubois and J.J. Barea, the two players used as his backup, are penetrators but do not yet possess complete point guard games.