Jason Kidd is the latest NBA head coach to visit Renton's Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
The Milwaukee Bucks' front man and former NBA guard spent time with Seattle head coach Pete Carroll at Seahawks headquarters during the team's recenlty wrapped-up offseason workout program, joining the Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra and Golden State Warriors' Steve Kerr as professional basketball coaches who have taken in Carroll's "Always Compete" culture first-hand in recent years.Â
"He had OTAs (organized team activities), which was pretty impressive, because he had us involved in all the meetings," Kidd said via the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel of his visit to Seattle alongside Bucks assistant Sean Sweeney. "Just the energy of Pete and the culture he built up there is pretty special."
Kidd, who like Kerr is in the early stages of his coaching career, said he was looking to learn from one of the best.
"He was saying for whatever reason, basketball (coaches) are coming to visit me," Kidd said of Carroll. "And I can see why. The energy he gives — and you can feel the energy he gives when you walk in that building at 7:30 (a.m.) — it's a special place.
"The facility is great. They have 25 coaches. For him to have to manage that size of coaching staff, you can see they're all on the same page. I was very honored for him to let me and Sean go and hang out for the day."
Kidd said he watched closely how Carroll operated throughout the day, searching for ways to apply Carroll's football lessons to the game of basketball, noting one key thing Carroll does well is in keeping every player "engaged."
"Being in, being committed. 'I'm in,'" Kidd said. "If you're in, no matter how well or how bad you've shot the ball that day, that you're committed to your teammates."
