Kidd and Owners Squabble

If Jason Kidd thinks he can push around the Dallas Mavericks’ new front office, the team’s minority owner says the star point guard had better think again.

“No one player is bigger than the Dallas Mavericks organization,” Frank Zaccanelli, the front man for the new owners, said Monday. “This is not going to alter our direction one inch.”

Kidd told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Monday’s editions that if neither he nor Jackson is traded, he would consider sitting out next season. The pair began squabbling early last season over who should be the team’s leader.

“I told (management) one or the other needs to be--has to be--traded,” Kidd said. “We’ve tried to patch things up. But it’s more a basketball thing than our personalities.

“I’m not trying to run the team, but my only goal is to win a championship,” he added. “To do that we need 12 guys willing to dump their own agendas and bust their butts. I’m not sure [Jackson] is committed to that.”

Kidd told the newspaper he first gave his ultimatum to majority owner Ross Perot Jr. and minority owner David McDavid last month, then reiterated his stance last Friday to new coach Jim Cleamons and Zaccanelli.

At a news conference Monday, both said he did not make the threat.

When Cleamons was hired May 31, he said smoothing out the internal problems would be one of his top priorities. He’s been in Dallas less than a week and felt things were being worked out until reading Monday’s newspaper.

“I respect Jason’s opinion--I just disagree with it,” Cleamons said. “We’re not going to allow this to fester and grow.”

Jackson did not immediately respond to Kidd’s latest comments to their feud. Cleamons said he also had not reached Jackson since the article was published. He spoke with Kidd early Monday and the point guard stood by his quotes.

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Jess Settles, a first-team All-Big Ten selection last season, said he will withdraw his name from Wednesday’s NBA draft and return to the University of Iowa for his senior year.

The 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward averaged 15.1 points and 7.5 rebounds a game for the Hawkeyes.

“I’m back,” Settles said in the statement released by the school.

Settles announced May 7 he would forgo his final year of eligibility and make himself available for the NBA draft. At the time, he said he would hire an agent, which would have made him ineligible to return to Iowa.

That apparently hasn’t happened since school officials announced late Monday that Settles changed his mind and planned to return for his final year of eligibility.

Settles was unavailable for further comment.

Iowa Coach Tom Davis said he was delighted with the decision, which came after several NBA scouts had said Settles should return to school.

“I’m excited to have him back,” Davis said. “Hopefully this will put him in even better position for the next go-round.”