Nets Coach Kidd to Plead Guilty to Drunken Driving

(AP) Lawyer: Brooklyn Nets coach Kidd to plead guilty
By FRANK ELTMAN
Associated Press
HAMPTON BAYS, N.Y.
Brooklyn Nets coach Jason Kidd intends to plead guilty to a drunken driving charge, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Kidd is expected to receive a suspended sentence, attorney Edward Burke Jr. told The Associated Press ahead of Kidd’s court appearance on Long Island. He also will speak to high school students about the dangers of drunken driving.

Prosecutors did not immediately comment.

Kidd, who retired as an NBA player after last season, was recently hired to coach the Nets, the team he took to two NBA Finals as a player when the franchise played in New Jersey.

Police said Kidd crashed his SUV into a telephone pole in the Hamptons community of Water Mill on July 15, 2012. He was treated at a hospital for minor injuries.

Burke said Kidd was returning from a charity function before the crash. A Southampton Town Police report noted the 10-time all-star and Olympic gold medalist was unsteady on his feet, smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot and glassy eyes.

While playing with Phoenix in 2001, Kidd was arrested on a domestic violence charge, acknowledging he struck his former wife.