Thorn Picked a Rose When He Acquired Kidd

The man who made the trade picks out a moment in the very first game Jason Kidd played for the New Jersey Nets. Opening night, and the comparisons begin.

Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Stephon Marbury, John Stockton, Bob Cousy, Guy Rodgers, Hakeem Olajuwon and Keith Hernandez.

Jalen Rose of the Indiana Pacers was cutting up the Nets in a fashion well remembered by those who care about the Nets. Kidd went to Byron Scott, the coach, and said, “Let me take him.” So Rose scored one basket in the second half, and the Nets won. Whether anybody would have believed it or not, the Nets are in first place in their division and the New York Knicks are last.

Rod Thorn, who has been around in this league and the other and boldly traded the ego-driven but popular Marbury for Kidd, makes the comparisons. “Jason just made everybody around him better, and not a lot of guys do that,” Thorn said.

They are some comparisons. “Julius Erving: best teammate I ever saw,” said Thorn, assistant coach when the Nets won two championships of the red, white and blue league in Nassau Coliseum and were beginning to make people care. Erving told the coach in the championship game in Denver to clear his side and he’d score. So Kevin Loughery cleared one side and Dr. J scored again and again, and the Nets won.

Thorn told of how Larry Kenon was devastated by a scoring slump and Dr. J, in a race for the scoring title, advised Loughery that he’d take care of Kenon. By the quarter, Kenon had 12 points, on the way to 25. Erving got his 15 and the Nets won. “When it was over, Doc just winked to Kevin,” Thorn said.

The Erving years were too good to last, and nobody on the Coliseum side of the state line missed the Nets--especially last season--until now. New York loves guards. Kidd is the best guard to play in New York since Walt Frazier, and how much the Knicks ache for a point guard is clear.

Thorn, as general manager of the Chicago Bulls, drafted Michael Jordan with the league’s third pick. “I thought he’d be real good; I had no clue he’d ever be what he turned out to be,” Thorn said. Houston picked first and chose Olajuwon, which Thorn would have done. Next was Portland, which already had Jim Paxson and Clyde Drexler and thought it could win a title if it had a big man, so it picked Sam Bowie when doctors said his broken leg was sound. That left Jordan for Chicago, which would have taken Olajuwon.

“The mindset then was to take big,” Thorn said. “Michael changed the thinking; a midsize player could lead a team to a championship.”

Thorn finds Jordan and Kidd with much in common. “They are ultracompetitive,” he said. “They have a calm in the guts of the game; the game seems to slow down for them. They’re not afraid to take the big shot. They’re not afraid to succeed; they expect to play well.”

And they make everybody around them better, which not a lot of guys do.

Remember how quickly Guy Rodgers moved the ball in the ‘50s and ‘60s? Kidd dribbles as fast as he runs, fits through narrow openings and, Thorn said, “has a genius for finding who’s open. He knows the strength and weakness of his teammates and plays to it.”

He observed that other players with Basketball USA, the pre-Olympic program, wanted to be on Kidd’s side. Thorn did not see him as the leader who has emerged. It was apparent except in the grandstand that Marbury, although devastatingly talented, created anti-chemistry. His ego wouldn’t let him coexist with Kevin Garnett in Minnesota. With the Nets, he listened to the old neighborhood, which is always a peril in playing near the old hometown.

When the team asked him to help teammates play better, Marbury said, nuts to them, they couldn’t play.

When Kidd had a publicized incident last season with his wife, after several first-round playoff exits, the Suns wanted him gone. Thorn wanted him.

Marbury can go to the hoop with the big guys and thinks shot first. Kidd thinks pass first, second, third and fourth--and still averages 14 points. “He’s an old-time guard,” Thorn said. “He’s like John Stockton or Bob Cousy; when he dreams, he dreams of the great pass.” And Marbury has fouled his third nest in Phoenix.

Keith Van Horn and Kerry Kittles are better for having Kidd. Inflammatory Kenyon Martin can benefit from seeing that Kidd seldom embarrasses a referee. Kidd never embarrasses a teammate.

“If a guy misses two or three shots, he looks to get him a layup,” Thorn said. In a league increasingly constipated in the halfcourt trend, Kidd makes teammates run even if they don’t want to. “Guys see if they don’t get down there with him,” Thorn said, “they might miss out on something.”

Thorn grew up in West Virginia and identifies himself as a “huge” St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan. He remembers there was bad air around Keith Hernandez, who then went to the New York Mets and made everybody around him better, and not a lot of guys do that. “It’s a good comparison,” Thorn said. “They make people think they can win.”

The Knicks grit their teeth.