Bucks' Kidd to have hip surgery, out indefinitely
Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd will be out indefinitely because of a deteriorating hip condition that requires surgery.
Sources told ESPN.com that it has become apparent to the team’s medical staff in recent days that trying to coach through the pain, as Kidd has done through Milwaukee’s first 29 games, is no longer feasible.
Undergoing surgery this coming week, sources said, gives Kidd a chance to return to the bench in February. Kidd’s right hip, which began bothering him late in his playing career, has progressively worsened as this season has gone on.
“It’s been chronic for the last three to four years, since I was in Dallas the last time,” Kidd said, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “The pain has been to the point where I can’t function.
“I’ve taken all the medicine I can do. Talking to the doctors, there’s really no good time to do the surgery. I have to fix myself and then we move on and get back to work.
Sources said veteran assistant coach Joe Prunty, who filled in as Milwaukee’s head coach when Kidd was suspended for the Bucks’ loss at Orlando in late November, will serve as interim coach while Kidd recuperates.
The Bucks hope Kidd will be sidelined only four to six weeks and thus able to return to the bench in February, sources said.
Kidd’s absence will serve as the latest blow in a season of struggle for the Bucks, after he coached last season’s upstarts to a surprising 41-41 mark in his Milwaukee debut after taking the Brooklyn Nets to the playoffs as a rookie coach in 2013-14.
Amid high expectations this season for the Bucks’ young squad in the wake of the Greg Monroe signing in the offseason, Milwaukee has slumped to a 11-18 start despite ranking as the only team in the league to beat 26-1 Golden State this season and nearly repeating the feat Friday night on the Warirors’ floor.
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