Turns out Jason Kidd isn't as innovative as some have given him credit for. He just has a really good memory.
Several media outlets reported that Kidd was a first-hand witness of a drink-spilling incident in 2009 when he was a point guard for the Dallas Mavericks.
Kidd was fined $50,000 on Thanksgiving Day for intentionally spilling a drink late in a game the previous night against the Los Angeles Lakers to get a timeout because the Nets already had used theirs.
The Mavericks led the Bulls 113-111 and had star Dirk Nowitzki stepping to the free throw line with 2.9 second left. He made the first and stepped up for the second when a video shows him stepping away because the court crew had to dry the floor in front of the Bulls bench because of a drink spilled by longtime NBA coach and then-Bulls assistant Del Harris.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban tweeted, "Who was the first coach to spill a coke to get a time out ??" with a YouTube video of the game and incident in question.
According to SI.com, Toronto Raptors coach Dwayne Casey, also an assistant with the Mavericks at the time, said he thought Kidd learned the trick from Harris.
"We had an incident when I was coaching in Dallas," Casey told TSN's "Off The Record" this week. "Del Harris was on the sideline with Chicago, accidentally dropped some water. They had no timeouts remaining, same situation. Jason was playing for us at the time, so he probably remembers that. ... If he [spilled the soda] on purpose, I thought it was a great play on his part, the game within the game. He had no timeouts, he had a chance to draw up a last-second play and the ball almost went in. [The Nets] got a great look on it."
Harris' ploy didn't work, either, as Nowitzki hit the second free to give the Mavericks a four-point lead en route to a victory.
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