The Mr. Hyde side of Kidd ? the conscience-free employee who fired a coach and demanded a trade ? deserves to be vilified for betraying the franchise that hired him in the wake of his domestic violence mess in Phoenix, and supported him during his very ugly and very public divorce in New Jersey.

In the uniform of the Dallas Mavericks, Kidd returns to East Rutherford as a living, breathing dichotomy. He might be the most selfless on-the-floor athlete to play in this market. He also might be the most selfish off-the-floor force in the history of a team that has had more than its fair share.

"I choose to remember the really good times with Jason," said Rod Thorn, the executive who made him a Net.

That doesn?t mean Thorn can?t recall the moments when Kidd almost made him wish he?d kept Stephon Marbury instead.

"Certain things you just don?t forget," Thorn conceded.

The time Kidd all but forced Thorn to fire Byron Scott?

The time Kidd boycotted a game against the Knicks with an alleged migraine?

The time Kidd demanded a trade into Kobe Bryant?s backcourt?

The time Kidd demanded the trade to Dallas that Thorn ultimately gave him?

"A lot of things were going on," Thorn said, "and it was very emotional for me. But after some time passes, things change. ? I remember that Jason played a large part in making a reputation for me."

Thorn won 26 games in his first year with the Nets. Friends and family members were questioning his decision to leave a comfortable job by David Stern?s side to take over a team long known as a practical NBA joke.

"And then we won 52 games the next season," Thorn said, "and I was named Executive of the Year. That?s because I traded for Jason Kidd."

Marbury for Kidd. Thorn pulled off a deal for the ages, and then sat back and watched his visionary point guard run the Nets to places they?d never been.

"I think of all the playoff games Jason won for us with his competitive heart, just willing us to win," Thorn said. "The series against Boston (in 2002), after we blew the big lead in Game 3, when the crowd was going beserk and Jason played incredibly well.

"Jason made this a believable franchise. At different times he played for us with cracked ribs. He played with a hole as big as a silver dollar in his knee, when he could only run in straight lines. He played with charley horses that would?ve kept other guys out for two weeks."

All indisputable facts.

And all damning pieces of evidence in the case involving Kidd?s unforgivable no-show against the Knicks.

"He told me he had a migraine," Thorn said, "and I took it for what it?s worth. I chose to believe it."

Thorn also chose to get Kidd out of his locker room as quickly as he could.

More than once, Thorn tried reminding his point guard that he rescued him from a bad situation in Phoenix, and one of his own design, and Kidd would tell his boss, "Well, I saved a bunch of people here, too."

Byron Scott wasn?t among them. Kidd ran all sorts of back-door cuts on the coach who guided the Nets to those Finals appearances against the Lakers and Spurs, and Thorn had little choice but to replace a man who deserved much better.

When Lawrence Frank couldn?t advance the Nets as far as Scott took them, the playmaker decided to bail on him, too. Kidd knew Thorn wouldn?t fire a second coach on his behalf, so he campaigned for a trade to the Lakers.

Soon enough, Kidd decided he?d be happier with the Mavericks, the team that drafted him. It only made sense in this full-circle context: Kidd could finish his career in the place where he first honed his locker room-dividing, coach-killing ways.

"We felt we didn?t have any choice but to trade him," Thorn said, "and we did as well as we could under the circumstances."

You think?

Never mind the two first-round picks Thorn talked out of Mark Cuban?s pocket, the first used on Ryan Anderson, who has long-term contributor written all over him.

Devin Harris isn?t just a lot younger than Kidd. He?s a lot better than Kidd, too.

"Devin is playing great," Kidd told reporters Thursday. "You?re measured by wins and losses in this league and so at the end of the day we?ll see."

Five years from now, Kidd for Harris might look as good for Thorn as Marbury for Kidd.

Either way, Kidd was right Thursday when he said nobody could strip him of his triple doubles and Eastern Conference titles earned in a Nets uniform. "We took something that was almost nothing," he said, "and we had a great ride."

The memories inspired Thorn to renew his friendship with Kidd; they returned to the golf course last summer, where the point guard beat the team president out of a few bucks.

They still talk and they still text. But if everything is forgiven, not everything is forgotten.

As the greatest player in the Nets? not-so-great NBA history, Kidd will be remembered for his flagrant fouls as much as he will be for his breathless assists.

He only has the point guard in the mirror to blame for that.

E-mail: oconnor@northjersey.com