Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd will undergo hip surgery on Monday, according to Charles Gardner of the Journal Sentinel and Marc Stein of ESPN, leaving him away from the sideline for a projected 4-6 weeks:
Jason Kidd will undergo right hip surgery on Monday in New York and be out indefinite time period. Joe Prunty will serve as interim coach.
— cfgardner (@cf_gardner) December 21, 2015
Four to six weeks is early estimate for how long Jason Kidd will be off Bucks' bench. Hip issues have plagued him since days as Mavs player
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) December 21, 2015
According to Kidd, the injury is something he has dealt with since his days of playing for the Dallas Mavericks, meaning it has been a chronic pain for three or four years. Although Kidd had been able to make do with medicine over the past few years, it seems apparent that the pain is no longer bearable, leading to Kidd’s decision to have surgery. Kidd said just as much to Gardner:
This is just one that has taken away from me being able to sleep and function […] I’ve taken enough of the cortisone shots that they don’t work. We put it off as long as we could.
The Bucks, who have been vastly inconsistent and mostly disappointing this season, will look to assistant coach Joe Prunty to take over for Kidd until he can fully recover. Kidd mentions that he has full faith in Prunty and does not foresee his absence as a major factor:
“We’re all set,” Kidd said. “Joe Prunty will take over and he will run the team. But nobody gets out of their lane. Joe will still be offense and [assistant coach Sean] Sweeney will still be defense.
“The guys have to continue to develop. It’s in good hands with the coaching staff. We’re built as a roundtable. Joe is well-qualified to keep these guys going in the right direction.”
