In 98-96, the Lone Ranger took the Utah Jazz on the road. 4-2 after eleven years to break through the first round of the playoffs.
The last time was in 2010-11, when they finally won the championship, and the starting point guard in the team is now in the team's head coach position.
Jason Kidd, once again, let the world see his wisdom.
He's one of the greatest pure point guards in basketball history, with five assists, five first-team, and ten All-Stars.
He could lead the flimsy Nets from the bottom of the East Side to the Finals for two consecutive years and even nearly snatch Duncan's first mvp (2001-02).
It also allows Ken Young Martin, Richard Jefferson, and Van Horn to play far beyond his ability around him. Without him, these people are far from the peak.
He is the captain of Dream Eight, even if there is Kobe, LeBron, Wade, and Anthony in the team.
He is second only to the monster-like Stockton in the all-time assists and steals list.
In a word, one of the best organizational defenders in history.
But this year, when he reappeared in the public eye as head coach and coached another talent, Doncic, he didn't get much favor and blessing, after all, he replaced Rick Carlisle, the only champion coach in the history of the Lone Rangers.
But now, he not only helped Doncic break through the first round of the spell, but also brought a change to the Lone Ranger.
This regular season, with 52 wins and 30 losses, they won home advantage for the first time since the 2010-11 season (fourth in the West).
Today, Doncic only took 24 points, 9 boards and 8 assists, which is only a passing level for him, but the Lone Ranger only let his opponents take 94 points.
If you know about this season's Lone Ranger, you'll be relieved. That's how they win now.
This season, the Lone Ranger has averaged 104.7 points per game for the league's second, limited opponent three-point shots for the league 's first (10.9), and sixth in the league for defensive efficiency.
Jason Kidd, in one season, polished them into one of the best defensive teams in the league.
In previous seasons, they weren't like that.
Doncic debuted in 2018 and led the Lone Rangers back to the playoffs the following year (2019-20), when they were first in the league in offensive efficiency (116.7) and 18th in defense.
In the first round against the Clippers, although facing the pinch between George and Leonard, Doncic can still cut 31.0 points, 9.8 boards and 8.7 assists, but the overall weakness of the team encounters the Clippers only has a dead end.
Last season, Doncic was able to contribute 27.7 points, 8.0 boards and 8.6 assists in the regular season, and sat on the Western Conference starter. But facing the Clippers again in the playoffs is still an old problem.
Doncic can drop 35.9 points, 7.9 boards and 10.9 assists, scored 31 points, 10 boards and 11 assists and 39 points, 7 boards and 7 assists in the first two games to help the team lead 2:0, but once the strength of the Clippers, the key package clips make him less efficient. The weakness of the Lone Ranger's defensive end could not stop the Clippers' counterattack, and it fell again 3-4.
If Carlisle is still in charge, the Lone Ranger may continue doncic's regular season highlights, and the embarrassment of breaking the playoffs when it is touched.
Kidd's arrival is an important choice for the Lone Ranger to take Doncic's career a step further.
He spent two years with the Lakers and saw firsthand how LeBron and Brow made a team that didn't make the playoffs in seven years into a champion. They were the strongest inside and outside punches in the league at the time, but the Lakers built the team with defense from beginning to end in the 19-20 season, becoming the toughest team of the year and eventually winning the championship.
No matter how talented a superstar is, if you want to win the championship, you must start from defense.
So under Kidd's tutelage, both the Lone Ranger and Doncic are quietly changing.
They sent Porzingis, who had never been able to harden, in exchange for Dinwiddie and Bertans, a secondary attacker who could help Doncic share the pressure, and an outside cannon that was about to be forgotten by the league.
From Powell (2.08 m), Kleber (2 m 08), Finney Smith (2 m 01), Brock (1 m 98), and Doncic at 2 m 01 m, with the exception of Bronson, who was 1 m 85 but as strong as an ox, the Lone Ranger gathered a group of two-meter up and down, fast-moving swingers.
This season's Kidd has emphasized defensive compression of space and sideline pinches, using the players' high mobility to weave an effective defensive net.
More importantly, Kidd persuaded Doncic to take the lead in endorsing and executing his tactical philosophy.
This season, 1.2 steals and 0.6 blocks are career highs, and the contribution value of defensive victories (3.8) and the value of defensive real efficiency (1.8) are almost doubled.
With the support of the team's top players, it is no wonder that this season's Lone Rangers have a reborn performance.
Kidd and Doncic's teammates also gave back to him at a crucial moment, and in the final regular season game against the Spurs, Doncic injured his leg and collapsed in the last moments before the playoffs began.
But Kidd used a defensive system honed throughout the season, as well as two secondary attackers, Bronson and Dinwiddie, who had prepared in advance, to hold back the Utah Jazz, who even led 2-1 in the first three games of Doncic's absence.
By the time Doncic returned, the Lone Rangers were even more unstoppable, and if it weren't for Gobert's death, they would have ended the series earlier.
Kidd used his abilities and the team's record to really get Doncic's approval.
In fact, looking at Kidd's resume, he really doesn't need to prove anything, in addition to being one of the greatest point guards in NBA history, he has trained a superstar before Doncic - Alphabet Brother.
In 2013, kidd had just retired from New York, received an invitation from the Brooklyn Nets, and as a legend who led the team to the Finals twice, at the age of 40, he became the helmsman of the "Old Galaxy Fleet" composed of Garnett, Pierce, Delong, and Joe Johnson.
But at that time, they wanted to break through the rule of the "genuine big three" of LeBron, Wade and Bosh in the East, which was too difficult.
The galactic battleship ran aground after only a year of voyage, but Kidd soon found a new head coach job, the Milwaukee Bucks.
And the Greek boy named Giannis Antetokounmpo had just finished his rookie season.
Kidd's first decision at the Bucks was to straighten out alphabet brother who averaged just 6.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game in his first season.
He let alphabet hit all five positions on the court, from small forwards to shooting guards to centers, trying to get alphabets to hone their ability to play.
In the 2014-15 season, Alphabet Brother made his first starter, with 12.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.0 blocks, and the Bucks won 41 to reach the playoffs.
In the 2015-16 season, Alphabet Brother scored 16.9 points, 7.7 boards and 4.3 assists, and won the best of the week for the first time, replacing Jabari Parker as the real core of the team.
In the 2016-17 season, Alphabet Brother 22.9 points, 8.8 boards, 5.4 assists, All-Stars, the fastest improving players, and the league's second team all came.
In the 2017-18 season, 26.9 points, 10.0 boards, 4.8 assists, the league's second team, defensive first team, is already the front-line monster we are familiar with.
It was Kidd who transformed him from a thin lottery guy into the "Greek monster" he is today.
Unfortunately, Kidd never led the Bucks to a breakthrough in the playoffs and was eliminated in the first round. Eventually, in 2018, the Bucks fired him and hired Budenholzer.
Then there was the alphabet brother won the mvp for two consecutive years, the same fold in the playoffs, last year he finally broke through the bottleneck, won the championship, and became the most terrifying inside monster in the NBA today.
The predecessors planted trees, and the posterity cooled off. Kidd painstakingly created the letters, and the final benefit is Budden.
Now Kidd has the opportunity to coach another talent, Doncic, and he has a breakthrough in his first year. Next they will face Kidd's former little brother Chris Paul.
Three of the NBA's top offensive masters, three famous "super brains", presumably the next Western Conference semifinals, absolutely enough exciting.