Former championship head coach attends Dallas Mavericks training camp

Tyler Watts

Dallas Mavericks, Jason Kidd / Ezra Shaw/GettyImages

The Dallas Mavericks reached the Western Conference Finals last season in their first year under head coach Jason Kidd. Luka Doncic was their engine, but the Hall of Fame point guard made a ton of tactical adjustments to help Dallas win their first playoff series since 2011 and reach the conference finals for just the fifth time in franchise history.

Throughout the run, Kidd talked about how his two seasons as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers helped him grow. He was a better coach than his previous head gigs, and he gave a ton of credit to Frank Vogel for helping him improve.

Vogel led the Lakers to the championship inside the bubble in 2020 with Kidd as his assistant, but the 49-year-old was fired after Los Angeles missed the playoffs last season. Vogel has been a head coach for three different teams, but he is taking this season away from the bench. It gave the championship coach a chance to stop by Mavericks training camp and visit his friend.

Former championship head coach attends Dallas Mavericks training camp

Kidd handed Vogel an open invitation to join the Mavs during camp, and he immediately accepted. Fans should expect to see the former Lakers head coach over the next few days as training camp gets underway. Vogel is not joining coach Kidd’s staff full-time. He is just in town visiting and helping the team.

J-Kidd had several former players and coaches in attendance during his first training camp in Dallas, and he will likely do something similar this year.

Dirk Nowitzki was also on-hand for the first day of practice with a notebook in hand. Fans have speculated if that means the Mavericks GOAT is taking on a larger role with the team this season, but that remains to be seen. Dirk is currently a special advisor to owner Mark Cuban.

The Dallas Mavericks are working hard on their defense in year two under head coach Jason Kidd, and there will be plenty of newsworthy topics during training camp, so stay tuned for all the latest.

Tyler Watts

Tyler is an NBA Lead Editor at FanSided. He has been covering the league since 2016. He regularly writes about all 30 NBA franchises and the WNBA. He has seen every game of Luka Doncic's NBA career, and his work has been featured on Bleacher Report and Fantasy Pros. In his spare time, he enjoys going for walks, heading to games, or watching movies with his wife.