No joke: Kidd is season’s best story

The NBA’s most improved player might actually be a coach. Come on down, Jason Kidd. In a season full of fun stories— Phoenix’s and Toronto’s rise, the Knicks’ collapse and the late-season playoff scramble, LaMarcus Aldridge’s superstar confirmation, etc.— this one has been the best. By far. It’s come so far, so fast. When the Nuggets arrived in Brooklyn on Dec. 3, they did so on arguably Kidd’s most difficult day in his first season as a head coach. In search of his own voice as leader of the Nets, he abruptly reassigned the most veteran coach on staff, assistant Lawrence Frank. His team was ravaged by injuries, and the losses piled a mile high.

Kidd was booed that night by a sparse Nets crowd and the Nuggets ran right through his depleted team. Brooklyn was 5-13 after that 24-point loss, and Kidd’s coaching acumen already was in deep question from media and fans alike.

He was a splash hire for a franchise trying to meaningfully wedge its way into the New York scene, but seemed to be drowning in the deep end. The notion of his dismissal after one season was being tossed about. Grinning members of the New York media asked Nuggets coach Brian Shaw how glad he was to not have ended up with the Brooklyn job.

It was as toxic a situation as one could be.

But suddenly, it reversed course. It became a redemption story.

The Nets got injured stars back. Players bought into Kidd’s coaching. Kidd found that voice, put his stamp on the team, and the wins started to accumulate.

And shockingly, this team, which started 10-21, had the fourth-best record in the NBA since Jan. 1— 31-13 going into Saturday. The Nets now are widely considered the team in the Eastern Conference no one wants to meet in the playoffs. Miami and Indiana, this means you.

And last week, the coup de grace: Kidd was named Eastern Conference coach of the month forMarch.

From zero to hero in the span of fourth months. Amazing.

There’s a lesson in here somewhere. Something like being too quick to judge. Something like blocking out critics and staying the course. Something like keeping your cool under intense pressure.

And maybe something like staying humble, resisting the urge to laugh in the face of those who laughed at Kidd.

None of it has been lost on his good friend, Shaw.

“I’m extremely happy for him,” Shaw said. “I can’t imagine what it was like getting to this point because he was in New York. The story isn’t finished yet, but I’m sure there’s a part of him inside that’s saying … ‘Uh, huh, all you guys that were onme …’ ”

Shaw paused. He’d let Kidd finish the story his own way.

“So,” Shaw concluded. “I’m happy for him.”

What a grand tale it has been.