Jason Kidd is Retiring After 19 Seaons

It was announced on June 3rd that Jason Kidd is retiring from the NBA. Kidd is one of the best point guards ever. He is in the top 5 for me with Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, John Stockton, and Jerry West. Kidd in his playing career played from 1994-2013, he played for the Mavericks, Suns, Nets, and Knicks. He wore 2, 32, and 5 in his career. He won 1 NBA titles with the Mavericks in 2011. He also went to the Finals in 2002 and 2003 with the Nets losing to the Lakers in 2002 and the Spurs in 2003. Kidd is one of the best passers of all-time and he is currently 2nd All-Time in assists with 12,091 assists only behind John Stockton who has 15,806 assists, 3715 more than Kidd. Kidd was also excellent at defense in his prime. He is currently 2nd All-Time in assists with 2,684 steals only behind John Stockton again who has 3,265 steals, 581 more than Kidd. Amazingly he never won a regular season MVP. He was drafted #2 overall by the Mavericks in 1994. He averaged 11.7 PPG and 7.7 APG and was co-Rookie of the Year with Grant Hill in 1994-95. He is a 10-time NBA All-Star. Kidd has 5 NBA Assists Titles. He won these in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2004. He is tied for 4th all-time with Steve Nash with most assists titles. Kidd had 5 All-NBA 1st Teams and 1 2nd Teams. He had 4 All-NBA Defensive 1st Team selections and 5 All-NBA Defensive 2nd Team selections. Kidd has 2 Olympic gold medals in 2000 and 2008. Jason Kidd holds the record for most steals in one season. He had 175 steals in the 2001-02 season. Kidd's career high for assists in a game is 25. This game was on February 8th, 1996 when he was on the Mavericks. He helped the Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz 136-133 that night. Also in the game he had more assists than the Jazz by himself. Even though he doesn't have numbers that stand out to the normal fan or have a lot of awards, Kidd is still one of the best NBA players to ever player the game. Kidd will be a easy Hall Famer in 2018 after he waits his 5 years. Kidd was actually hired by the Brooklyn Nets today so you will still see Jason Kidd around the NBA for many more years. I think he will do a good job as head coach though I don't think he makes a huge impact for the Nets. He will definitely help Deron Williams grow and he will spread his knowledge of the game to the younger players still in the NBA. It will be very interesting to see how well he does after retiring as a player and immediately becoming a head coach.