Jason Kidd: Mavericks Used Full Roster vs. Rockets at Request of Player Council

Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd emptied out his bench in Tuesday's 116-106 victory over the Houston Rockets at the behest of his players.

Fifteen different Mavs took the court, and Kidd explained to reporters after the game that Dallas' three-man leadership council had made the request.

The structure of the leadership council is unclear, but it seems safe to assume Luka Doncic has a role and probably Kristaps Porzingis too.

Absent more context, the idea is ripe for mockery.

Chicago Bulls fans will also recall how well that team's "leadership committee" fared under then-head coach Jim Boylen (not well).

This might be an effort by Kidd to correct what he did wrong in his previous stops with the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. He wasn't a great man manager, which is a big part of a head coach's job.

The Hall of Famer told Sports Illustrated's Michael Shapiro ahead of the regular season how working as an assistant under Frank Vogel with the Los Angeles Lakers allowed him to understand what's required beyond tactics:

"Starting as a coach at the highest level, there was no handbook. You think you know most of it, and you don't. Being able to communicate to your team, to your coaching staff, to management, the foundation of that is listening. That's something I learned from Frank. He's always asking his guys questions; he's always gauging the room."

Allowing the players to have some input on rotations isn't necessarily a bad thing. Steve Kerr let his Golden State Warriors players coach themselves for one game in 2017-18 as a change of pace.

This was also the Mavericks' third game and they were playing an opponent that's likely to be one of the worst teams in the league. Now is a time to experiment a bit.

If things spiral out of control for Kidd in Dallas, then the leadership council will likely come to symbolize a warning sign of misfortune to come. But it could serve as an easy way for him to build some early trust with a new roster.