NBA Finals 2024: Luka Doncic has yet to truly grasp what defined Jordan, LeBron -- and these Celtics - ESPN

IN AUGUST 2021, Jason Kidd had been on the job as coach of the Dallas Mavericks for just over a month when he flew to Slovenia to meet with Luka Doncic, the 22-year old superstar who would determine his success or failure as a coach.

Kidd had been a superstar in his own right as a player and played alongside the greatest Maverick of them all, Dirk Nowitzki, when Dallas won an NBA championship in 2011. He guided a young Giannis Antetokounmpo as the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks and — as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers — he helped an aging LeBron James win a championship in 2020.

In other words, he has had plenty of experience with transcendent stars. Each of them were different, of course. But Kidd has told all of them the same thing.

«I'm not here to argue or fight with you. I'm here to help you,» Kidd told ESPN in 2022. «And I'm always going to tell you the truth.»

In the three seasons he has coached Doncic, Kidd has told him several truths: that he needed to stop making enemies of officials with persistent whining; that he needed to give a more consistent effort on defense; and that he needed to get in better shape to be at his best when his team needed him.

Kidd has said these things publicly and privately. So have Doncic's teammates in Dallas and on the Slovenian national team.

Kidd has built him up, too, lauding Doncic's otherworldly talent, competitiveness and toughness. He has marveled at the basketball knowledge and skills that have made him a five-time All-Star and an MVP runner-up.

The praise is as consistent as the harsh truths he has delivered. So when Kidd provided an unvarnished assessment of the ways the Boston Celtics have exploited the lingering holes in Doncic's game as they've built