Mavericks' Coach Avery Johnson made it clear to the media that the illusion that point guard Jason Kidd does not have a free reign so far in Dallas is just that, an illusion, the Dallas Morning News are reporting.

"That's an overrated thing," Johnson said in his pregame media gathering. "You guys always talk about me not turning Jason loose. He's a 35-year-old point guard. We haven't held him back in any way. Look at Jason Kidd. He has no restrictions. We've always turned him loose from the first day he got here. He just didn't know the offense. And he didn't know how to work with Josh Howard or Dirk [Nowitzki]. But he's been turned loose from Day One."