But Kidd was also trying to hold off time. In Game 13 of last season, which turned into an overtime loss to the Nets, he sat out, the victim of back spasms. It was a troubling signal of the physical challenges he might face as the games piled up and he tried to remain a valuable contributor on the floor.

In the end, his body did catch up to him. By the time the postseason arrived, it sometimes looked as if he were standing still. In the Knicks’ final 10 playoff games, he failed to score a single point, going 0 for 17 from the field.

The Knicks’ playoff run ended May 18, in a Game 6 loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Two weeks later, Kidd, 40, announced his retirement. Nine days later, the Brooklyn Nets announced he would be their new head coach despite the fact that he had no prior coaching experience.

Thirteen games into the 2013-14 season, he has been an instant failure. Expected to be a serous force in the Eastern Conference, a possible challenger to the Heat’s supremacy, the Nets instead are a 3-10 disaster.

They have been hurt by injuries to their two cornerstone players, Brook Lopez and Deron Williams, who have appeared in eight and nine games, and by the virtual disappearance of Andrei Kirilenko, who has played in four. Their two big-name acquisitions, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, look as old as they actually are and seem unable to rise to the occasion with Lopez and Williams sidelined.