Jason Kidd biography

American professional basketball point guard who played for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association.

 

Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball point guard who has most recently played for the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA. Raised in Oakland, California, Kidd played college basketball at the University of California, Berkeley and was drafted second overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 1994 NBA Draft. Then, from 1996 to 2001, Kidd played for the Phoenix Suns and after few times for the New Jersey Nets from 2001 to 2008. In the middle of the 2007–2008 season, Kidd was traded back to Dallas. Along with his three NBA Finals appearances including a championship win in 2011, Kidd won two Olympic gold medals with the US national team in 2000 and 2008. He is a ten-time All-Star and a five-time All-NBA First Team member. He has also been selected to nine All-Defensive Teams.

     He led his former team, the New Jersey Nets to two consecutive NBA Finals appearances (2002 and 2003) before winning in 2011 with Dallas. His on-court versatility also makes him a regular triple-double threat, and he is in third place all-time for regular season triple-doubles in the NBA with a career total of 107 and second in playoffs triple-doubles with a career total of 11.

 

    Jason was born in San Francisco, California and raised in an upper middle class section of Oakland, California. His father Steve was African-American, and his mother Anne is Irish-American. The oldest of 6 children, Kidd attended St. Paschal Baylon school in the Oakland Hills. As a youth, Kidd was highly scouted for AAU teams and tourneys, garnering various all-star and MVP awards. He frequented the city courts of Oakland, where he often found himself pitted against future NBA All-Star Gary Payton. The two still reminisce about the playing days of their youth. During his youth, Kidd also excelled at soccer, baseball as well as other sports.

At St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, California, under the guidance of coach Frank LaPorte, Kidd led the Pilots to back-to-back 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 and the state's seventh-best career scorer, Kidd was voted California Player of the Year for the second time and also a McDonald's All-American. On January 31, 2012, Kidd was honored as one of the 35 Greatest McDonald's All Americans.

His 110 steals broke both the 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 also was a school record.

NBA career:

Dallas Mavericks (1994–1996)

Phoenix Suns (1996–2001)

New Jersey (2001–2008)

Dallas (2008–2012)

New York Knicks (2012-present)

NBA highlights

• NBA Champion: 2011
• 10-time NBA All-Star: 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010
• 6-time All-NBA:

·         First Team: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004

·         Second Team: 2003

• 9-time All-Defensive Selection:

·         First Team : 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006

·         Second Team: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007

• NBA co-Rookie of the Year: 1995 NBA All-Rookie First Team: 1995
• NBA All-Star Skills Challenge champion: 2003
• 5-time NBA regular-season leader, assists per game: 1999 , 2000 , 2001 , 2003 , 2004 3-time NBA regular-season leader, total assists: 1999 , 2001 , 2003
• NBA regular-season leader, total steals: 2002 .