Jason Kidd

Biography:

Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player and is currently the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). According to reports, he will also have a small ownership stake in the team, pending NBA approval. Previously a point guard in the NBA, he was a ten-time NBA All-Star, a five-time All-NBA First Team member, and a nine-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. He won an NBA championship in 2011 as a member of the Dallas Mavericks. Raised in Oakland, California, Kidd played college basketball for the California Golden Bears and was drafted second overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 1994 NBA Draft. He was named co-NBA Rookie of the Year in his first season with the Mavericks. Then, from 1996 to 2001, Kidd played for the Phoenix Suns and later for the New Jersey Nets from 2001 to 2008. He led the Nets to two consecutiveNBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003. In the middle of the 2007–08 season, Kidd was traded back to Dallas, where he won his only NBA championship in 2011. After finishing his playing career with the New York Knicks in 2012–13, he retired and returned a week later as head coach for the now Brooklyn Nets. 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 second in playoff triple-doubles with a career total of 11. He also won two Olympic gold medals with the US national team in 2000 and 2008.