Jason Kidd has spent much of his coaching career watching basketball evolve from the inside. He coached Giannis Antetokounmpo with the Milwaukee Bucks from 2014 to 2018, worked with Luka Dončić as the Slovenian reshaped modern offense, and most recently observed Cooper Flagg during his final stint with the Dallas Mavericks, according to the event coverage.
The NBA brought its NBA House experience to the Philippines for the first time, turning SPACE at One Ayala in Makati into a two-day celebration on Aug. 29 and 30. At the event were three Hall of Famers who represent the sport’s international and generational breadth: Kidd, four-time champion Tony Parker and two-time WNBA champion Lauren Jackson.
Kidd said the game has become increasingly global, positionless and versatile, and noted a blurring of the traditional lines separating positions. Big men are expected to handle the ball and initiate offense, guards are asked to rebound and defend multiple positions, and wings can function as primary playmakers.
“I think the game has grown. I played it in the 1990s and 2000s, and everybody had a position. Today, you can put these players across different roles because everyone can handle the ball, some can guard a point guard, some can guard a center,” the one-time NBA champion said. Kidd pointed to concrete shifts on the floor: the player bringing the ball up does not necessarily have to be the point guard, and the biggest player can initiate the offense and make reads traditionally expected from a point guard.
Kidd used Giannis Antetokounmpo as a prime example of that evolution, saying the seven-foot defender who moves like a guard demonstrates how questions about a player’s position are giving way to questions about what a player can do. “Someone like Giannis who can defend a guard while being 7-foot tall and move like a guard is astonishing to see,” Kidd said.
The coach added that the trend opens creative options for coaches, allowing them to construct lineups around complementary skills rather than fixed roles. The numbers 1 through 5 still appear beside players’ names, Kidd said, but they are increasingly descriptions rather than restrictions.
