Steve Nash leads Nets against friend and mentor in Mavericks' Jason Kidd

DALLAS — When the Nets faced the Mavericks Tuesday night at American Airlines Center, it was old home week for two long-time friends in Nets coach Steve Nash and Mavs coach Jason Kidd.

As Kidd said before the game, "I played with Steve in Phoenix. We go way back. I played against him at Santa Clara with Cal. He’s a great human being, loves the game of football, which is soccer. He’s done great as a head coach, he’s a great communicator. I’m happy for what he’s done, and he’s great for the game of basketball."

Nash was amused when told of Kidd’s reference to his passion for soccer, and he recalled how special it was to be inducted to the Hall of Fame together with Kidd, who became his teammate as a rookie after being traded to the Suns.

"We go back to playing against each other in college," Nash said. "When he went to the NBA, I got a chance to work out with him when I was still in college. Obviously he got traded to the Suns my rookie year, so we played together for a period of time. And then just always had a good relationship and really enjoyed all the times we did get together."

Nash credits Kidd for helping his development as a player when they were on the Suns together. "It was a great learning opportunity for me," Nash said. "I think he's only a year older than me, but he was physically more mature. He’d been kind of the guy since he was a young teen, so to have that mentality, that responsibility at a young age, he was more advanced than I was as far as his mentality and all those things.

"So to watch him up close and see the competitive nature and spirit and just all of the things he brought to the table outside of points and assists and rebounds was really important to my development."

By Greg Logan

Gregory.Logan@newsday.comGregLogan1

Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.