Without a contract offer from the Lakers after 2 seasons as a veteran of the locker room with minimal playing time (7.4 minutes), Jared Dudley decided to take the plunge by hanging up the trainers and starting his retraining in coaching a few months ago. At the end of August, he joined the staff of Jason Kidd in Dallas, where he has worked as an assistant ever since.
“Even though I wasn’t a playing guy, the fans understood what I was doing and the fact that I was already like kind of an extension of the coach, in the locker room or in a video session. These days it’s hard to have someone selfless in the locker room, who can criticize everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, and it’s something that took me 12 years to develop to find myself in that position of helping them win a title. So I think they (the fans) respected that. And playing with ‘Bron was really a dream come true between dinners, conversations, video sessions in the bubble …
[…] Nothing in the NBA surprises me. So I wouldn’t necessarily say disappointing, but surprising in the sense that I don’t think they (the Lakers) appreciated my leadership and what I brought to the team at its true value. But in the end I am doing for the best since today I am third assistant. It would never have happened if I had played another year for the Lakers. It’s very rare to be able to go from player to one of the first assistants like that. So it will accelerate my career in coaching even more. “Jared Dudley
His ultimate goal is clear, to land a head coach position.
” Absolutely. It’s only been a few months that I am here and I have already scouted 8 or 8 games. Most coaches make it between 13 and 15. I have 29 games to scout this year. So at the end of the year, it will be as if I had already done 2 seasons. I already have what it takes in terms of communication, now I have to gain experience, that I earn my stripes, and I’m ready to do that. »Jared Dudley
via L.A. Times
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