Jason Kidd

After a highly publicized recruiting process, Kidd shocked many fans and pundits alike by choosing to attend the nearby University of California, Berkeley—a school that was coming off a 10–18 season and had not won a conference title since 1960—over a number of top-ranked collegiate programs including the University of California, Los Angeles, University of Arizona, the University of Kentucky, the University of Kansas, and Ohio State University.

In his first year playing for the Golden Bears, Kidd averaged 13.0 points, 7.7 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.8 steals per game which earned him national Freshman of the Year honors and a spot on the All-Pac-10 team.

His 110 steals set an NCAA record for most steals by a freshman and set a school record for most steals in a season, while his 220 assists that season was also a school record.

His play was also a key factor in the resurgence of Cal basketball and helped the Golden Bears earn an NCAA Tournament bid, where they upset two-time defending national champion Duke in the second round of that tournament before losing to Kansas in the Sweet 16.

Kidd continued his success as a sophomore, tallying averages of 16.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 9.1 assists, breaking his previous school record for most assists in a season with 272, while also leading the nation in that category.

He was also selected a First Team All-American, the first Cal player to be so named since 1968, as well as Pac-10 Player of the Year, becoming the first sophomore to receive that honor.

The Golden Bears made the NCAA Tournament again as a fifth seed, but was upset in the first round by Dick Bennett's Wisconsin–Green Bay team 61–57.

Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Widely regarded as one of the greatest point guards and passers of all time, Kidd was a 10-time NBA All-Star, a five-time All-NBA First Team member, and a nine-time NBA All-Defensive Team member.

Kidd played college basketball for the California Golden Bears and was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 1994 NBA draft with the second overall pick.

He was named co-NBA Rookie of the Year in his first season with the Mavericks, along with Grant Hill.

Kidd was also named a finalist for both the Naismith and Wooden Awards as college basketball's top player and subsequently opted to enter the NBA draft in 1994.

In his first year, he averaged 11.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 7.7 assists, and led the NBA in triple doubles, sharing 1995 NBA Rookie of the Year honors with Hill of the Detroit Pistons.

The year before the Mavericks drafted Kidd, they finished the season with the worst record in the NBA at 13–69.

After Kidd's first season with the Mavericks, their record improved to 36–46 which, at 23 games, was the largest improvement in the NBA.

Then, from 1996 to 2001, Kidd played for the Phoenix Suns and later for the New Jersey Nets from 2001 to 2008.

In the following season Kidd was voted a starter in the 1996 All-Star Game.

In his first two years with the Mavericks, the move most people associated him with was "the baseball pass".

He led the Nets to two consecutive NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003.

In 2004, Cal retired Kidd's number 5 jersey.

Kidd was selected as the second pick overall by the Dallas Mavericks, behind Glenn Robinson of Purdue, and just ahead of Duke's Grant Hill.

In the middle of the 2007–08 season, Kidd was traded back to Dallas.

He won an NBA championship in 2011 as a member of the Dallas Mavericks and was a two-time gold medal winner in the Olympics with the U.S. national team in 2000 and 2008.

He was inducted as a player into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

In October 2021, Kidd was honored as one of the league's greatest players of all time by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

At age 38, Kidd won his only NBA championship when Dallas defeated Miami in the 2011 finals.

On January 31, 2012, Kidd was honored as one of the 35 Greatest McDonald's All Americans.

He finished his playing career in 2013 with the New York Knicks.

The following season, he became the head coach of the Nets, who had relocated from New Jersey to Brooklyn.

He ranks second on the NBA all-time lists in career assists and steals and 15th in three-point field goals made.

Kidd was born in San Francisco, and raised in an upper middle class section of Oakland.

His father, Steve, was African-American, and his mother, Anne, is Irish-American.

As a youth, Kidd was highly scouted for AAU teams and tourneys, garnering various all-star and MVP awards.

He attended the East Oakland Youth Development Center and frequented the city courts of Oakland, where he often found himself pitted against future Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton.

At St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, under the guidance of coach Frank LaPorte, Kidd led the Pilots to consecutive state championships, averaging 25 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds and 7 steals his senior season.

During that year, he also received a host of individual honors, including the Naismith Award as the nation's top high school player, and was named Player of the Year by PARADE and USA Today.

The all-time prep leader in assists (1,155) and the state's seventh-highest career scorer (2,661 points), Kidd was voted California Player of the Year for the second time and also a McDonald's All-American.

After one season, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he coached for four seasons until he was fired mid-season in 2018.

After a season off, he was an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he won an NBA championship in 2020; he reunited with the Mavericks organization in 2021 to become the franchise's head coach, reaching the Western Conference finals in his first season there.

Kidd's ability to pass and rebound made him a regular triple-double threat, and he retired ranked third all-time in the NBA for regular season triple-doubles with a career total of 107 and third in playoff triple-doubles with a career total of 11.