Veteran coach Igor Kokoskov, who led Luka Doncic and the Slovenian national team to a 2017 EuroBasket title, got the opportunity to work with Doncic again as a Mavericks assistant during the 2021/22 season. However, Kokoskov admitted during a recent appearance on the X&O’s Chat podcast (YouTube link) that he didn’t have a great experience as a member of Jason Kidd’s coaching staff that year.

“(Kidd) was one of my favorite players and one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game,” Kokoskov said, per Nikola Miloradovic of Eurohoops. “I loved the Princeton offense because of Jason Kidd. But Jason Kidd the player and Jason Kidd the coach and person are two completely different stories. I didn’t have a good experience with him, nor do I have a particularly high opinion of him off the court or as a head coach.

“… Perhaps the best illustration is that, after working with Jason Kidd for a year, I sat down with him and said: ‘Look, I have a history with Luka Doncic and I know him well. We’ve worked together before, and that can certainly help the team. But I am not here working for Luka Doncic. I am working for you. This is your team.’ However, he could never really get over it. It was something in his head, part of his personal issues, which I didn’t want to get involved in.”

We have more notes from around the international basketball world:

• Confirming overseas reports, Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) cites league sources who say that the new Italian team BC Roma has expressed some interest in signing veteran NBA big man Maxi Kleber for the coming season. BC Roma, which will compete in Italy’s top domestic league and the EuroCup, was co-founded by Doncic, who played with Kleber in Dallas for several years and was traded with him to the Lakers in 2025.
• Nikola Mirotic, an NBA forward from 2014-19, has signed a one-year contract with Valencia Basket, according to an announcement from the Spanish club. The 2011 first-round pick averaged double-digit points in all five of his NBA seasons with Chicago, New Orleans, and Milwaukee, but opted to return to Europe in 2019 and has played there since then, earning EuroLeague MVP honors in 2022 and winning domestic championships in Spain (2021 and 2023), Italy (2024), and France (2026).
• Former NBA guard Rodney McGruder has signed with Longobardi Scafati, the Italian team announced in a press release. McGruder, 35, spent seven seasons with the Heat, Clippers, and Pistons from 2016-23, appearing in 317 regular season games during that time. He has played in Italy since then, spending time with Olimpia Milano and Reyer Venezia before signing with Scafati Basket.