Generally considered one of the best players in the NBA, Dallas Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd is known by teammates, opponents and fans as a formidable player. He led the New Jersey Nets to two consecutive NBA finals in 2003 and 2003 before joining up with the Mavericks.
He started his NBA Career with the Dallas Mavericks, went to play for Phoenix, and was traded to New Jersey before returning back to Dallas in February, 2008. In April, 2008, he achieved his 100th career triple-double in the final regular season game.
Born in San Francisco, the oldest of 6 children, Jason Kidd would often play on the public city basketball courts in the Oakland area and often against NBA All-Star Gary Payton. The two still talk about those early days.
While in high school, Kidd was ranked the top high school player in the country, earning the Naismith Award. He stayed close to his native San Francisco, attending college at UC-Berkeley. He was a finalist for the Wooden Award as well as another Naismith while in college and in 1994, entered the NBA draft. When he left his college team, his #5 jersey was retired.
Kidd's achievements are impressive: he was a member of the All-NBA First team from 1999 to 2002 and in 2004, is a one time NBA All-Star and won 2003's NBA Skills Challenge Championship. As if this weren't enough, he also was a member of the 1995 NBA All-Rookie First Team and made the All Defensive First and Second Teams from 1999 to 2007!
Kidd joined forces with some of the other greats of the game on the US Men's Basketball team in the 2008 Summer Olympics, where they won a gold medal and went undefeated. Kidd has an unbeaten record of 56-0 in USA Basketball (including exhibition games). He has won gold medals in both the 2000 and 2008 Olympic Games.
As amazing as his basketball career has been, his personal life has been rocky at times. He was arrested and pled guilty to charges of domestic abuse in 2001. Kidd entered counseling, anger management courses and quit drinking; he later reconciled with his wife.
However, he filed for divorce in 2007, claiming his wife was insanely jealous, paranoid and had threatened to file false reports of abuse. His wife filed as well, claiming physical abuse. The two have three children together.
In 2008, it was found that Jason Kidd and his girlfriend, the model Hope Dworaczyk were expecting a child of their own.
Despite personal problems, Kidd was one of two players in NBA history to record at lease 14,000 points, 6600 rebounds and 9,000 assists. He joined the ranks of Walt Chamberlin and Magic Johnson as one of three players to average a triple-double for multiple playoff series games. He was named the USA Basketball's 2007 Male Athlete of the Year. He has been a consistent super-star and an all time triple-double leader with 101, behind Oscar Robertson with 181 and Magic Johnson with 138.
Jason Kidd has set milestones during his career with the NBA and the USA Olympic teams. He is an active community service promoter in the Dallas area, sponsoring programs for youth in the community.
Author Info:
Nothing But Sports is a website dedicated to everything about sports providing millions of internet sports enthusiasts with great information and resources about sports. Visit us today at http://nothingbutsports.info.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|