Jason Kidd has spent the better part of his coaching career watching basketball change from the inside.
He coached Giannis Antetokounmpo as the Greek superstar grew into one of the NBA's most dominant forces with the Milwaukee Bucks from 2014 to 2018, then worked with Luka Dončić as the Slovenian wunderkind reshaped what a modern offensive engine could look like. Most recently, Kidd had a front-row seat to the arrival of another generation-defining talent in Cooper Flagg during his final stint with the Dallas Mavericks.
Across those experiences, Kidd has seen firsthand how the game has become increasingly global, positionless and versatile -- a reflection of how basketball continues to evolve far beyond its traditional boundaries.
And there may have been no better place to see that global reach than a basketball-man nation like the Philippines.
For the first time, the NBA brought its NBA House experience to the country, turning SPACE at One Ayala in Makati into a celebration of basketball and the culture that surrounds it on Aug. 29 and 30.
At the center of it all were three Hall of Famers whose careers themselves represented the international and generational breadth of basketball: Kidd, four-time NBA champion Tony Parker and two-time WNBA champion Lauren Jackson.
But for Kidd, the evolution of the game goes beyond the NBA's growing international footprint.
The traditional lines separating positions have become increasingly blurred. Big men are expected to handle the ball and initiate offense. Guards are asked to rebound and defend multiple positions. Wings can function as primary playmakers, while the best players on the floor are no longer confined to one role simply because of where they line up on the court.
And when he talked about where basketball is headed, he pointed to one of the clearest changes on the court: players are no longer being asked to stay in the boxes traditionally assigned to their positions.
"I think the game has grown. I played it in the 1990s and 2000s, and everybody had a position. Today, you can put these players across different roles because everyone can handle the ball, some can guard a point guard, some can guard a center," the one-time NBA champion said.
That may sound simple, but it represents a fundamental shift in how the modern NBA is played. Now, the player bringing the ball up the floor does not necessarily have to be the point guard. The biggest player on the court can initiate the offense and can stand above the break, run an offense and make the same reads traditionally expected from a point guard.
For Kidd, the biggest example is his former player and the newest member of the Miami Heat in Antetokounmpo, reinforcing the point that the question is becoming less about what position a player plays and more about what a player can do.
"Someone like Giannis who can defend a guard while being 7-foot tall and move like a guard is astonishing to see. And you can see other young players developing the same skills as well," Kidd added.
Having these types of players has also opened up more possibilities for coaches, too. Instead of fitting players into predetermined roles, they can build around the different skills each player brings to the floor. A lineup's value is no longer determined simply by whether it has a point guard, shooting guard, forward and center, but by whether those five players can complement one another.
That freedom is ultimately what Kidd sees as one of the most exciting parts of the game's evolution.
"I think it gives coaches and players the opportunity to have more imagination and be more creative. I think the game is in a great place because we're not just holding them into one area of the game," Kidd said.
The positions are still there. The numbers 1 through 5 still appear beside players' names. But increasingly, they are becoming descriptions rather than restrictions.
And perhaps that is where basketball is headed: a game where a player's position tells you where he starts, but his skill set determines where he can take you.
