1 week Ago By FTW Outdoors
I'll admit it. I felt a great deal of sympathy for Jason Kidd after seeing his initial reaction to the earth-shattering Luka Doncic trade. It seemed like he was completely blindsided by the move after thinking he'd coach a perennial NBA title contender Dallas Mavericks team for years to come, with Doncic at the forefront.
Instead, Doncic is a Los Angeles Laker. Poor guy.With Doncic returning to Dallas on Wednesday night for the first time, Kidd had an opportunity to open himself up to even more sympathy.
After all, he didn't ask for the Doncic deal. But instead of doing that, he opened the door to everyone (rightfully) making fun of him.In fact, I don't feel nearly as bad for Kidd after hearing him compare the Doncic trade to the Boston Red Sox's sale of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1919.
It's as if he doesn't understand the frightening nature of a sports curse. Yes, yes, curses aren't real. I definitely also think that, too (wink, wink).
Jason Kidd says that “some are comparing this to Babe Ruth, which is kinda cool” in regards to the Luka trade which is pretty wild considering how that story goes— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) April 9, 2025Who does Kidd think he is when he uses an analogy that paints Doncic as sports' modern Babe Ruth? He doesn't come out favorably in that comparison!The Babe Ruth sale to the Yankees is one of the most widely-panned moves ever. The Red Sox basically gave away arguably the greatest baseball player of all time for nothing to the biggest brand in baseball. The Yankees predictably went on a tremendous run of success with Ruth as their talisman.
More importantly, the move famously began the "Curse of the Bambino," which Red Sox fans used to characterize an 86-year championship drought that they thought was a punishment from the baseball gods for giving away Ruth in his prime. Kidd is right. The Doncic deal is similar.
The Mavericks gave away a future Hall of Fame player for pennies on the dollar to the biggest brand in basketball. The Lakers have initially played well since adding Doncic, but we'll have to see whether they can match the Yankees' remarkable extended run with Ruth in due time. Still, if I were in Kidd's position as someone on the Mavericks, I would never positively compare the Doncic deal to Ruth going to the Yankees.
It's not "cool" at all, really. That would openly invite the basketball gods to smite Dallas. Well, I suppose even more than they already have.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Jason Kidd compared Luka Doncic and Babe Ruth trades with no self-awareness.
