Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest point guards of all time, Kidd was a 10-time NBA All-Star, a six-time All-NBA 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 and was a two-time gold medal winner in the Olympics with the U.S. national team in 2000 and 2008. He has been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame twice: in 2018 for his individual career, and in 2025 as a member of the Redeem Team. In 2021, Kidd was honored as one of the league's greatest players by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
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 as the second overall pick. He was named co-NBA Rookie of the Year in his first season with the Mavericks, along with Grant Hill. 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 consecutive NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003. In the middle of the 2007–08 season, Kidd was traded back to Dallas. At age 38, Kidd won his only NBA championship when Dallas defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals. He finished his playing career in 2013 with the New York Knicks.
Kidd's ability to pass and rebound made him a regular triple-double threat. Upon his retirement, he ranked third in NBA history for career regular season triple-doubles with 107 and third in career playoff triple-doubles with 11. As of 2025, he ranks third on both the NBA all-time list in career assists and the NBA all-time list in career steals.
In June 2013, Kidd was hired as the head coach of the Nets, who had relocated from New Jersey to Brooklyn. 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 and reaching the 2024 NBA Finals in his third season.
Kidd was born in San Francisco and raised in Oakland. Kidd is biracial; his father, Steve Kidd, is African-American, and his mother, Anne Kidd, 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.
Raised Catholic, Kidd attended 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 as well as 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. On January 31, 2012, Kidd was honored as one of the 35 Greatest McDonald's All Americans.
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 Arizona, University of Kentucky, 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. 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 2004, Cal retired Kidd's number 5 jersey.
1994–1995: Co-Rookie of the Year and instant impact
Kidd was selected as the second overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks, behind Glenn Robinson of Purdue, and just ahead of Duke's Grant Hill. 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.
1995–1996: First All-Star appearance and "Three J's"
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". Kidd was a member of the "Three J's" in Dallas along with Jim Jackson and Jamal Mashburn. After promising beginnings, things turned sour among the trio. Mashburn's injury combined with deteriorated personal relations between the immature leaders of the team resulted in the Mavericks taking a step backwards instead of further development. Kidd's continued problems with the coaches affected the Mavericks' decision to trade their young star just in his third season in the league.
1996–1998: First playoff appearances
Kidd was traded to the Phoenix Suns with Tony Dumas and Loren Meyer for Michael Finley, A.C. Green, and Sam Cassell during the 1996–97 season. In his first full season with the Suns in 1997–98, the team's win total improved by 16 games. The Suns, who finished the season with a 56–26 record, had been recognized for their fast-paced style of play with Kidd frequently leading a small lineup of four guards (Kidd, Kevin Johnson, Rex Chapman and Steve Nash) being on the floor at the same time together with Antonio McDyess playing at center. In the playoffs, Phoenix was eliminated in the first round by the San Antonio Spurs led by their Twin Towers duo, David Robinson and Tim Duncan.
1998–2001: First All-NBA selections and leading the NBA in assists
In the 1998–99 season, Kidd averaged 10.8 assists per game to dethrone Washington's Rod Strickland as the league's assists leader. He also led the NBA with seven triple-doubles (the rest of the league had just 11) and was second in the NBA with 41.2 minutes per game (behind Allen Iverson's 41.5 mpg). Kidd averaged career highs in points (16.9 ppg), field goal percentage (.444), rebounds (6.8 rpg, best among NBA guards) and steals (2.28 spg, fourth in the NBA) and was the only player to be ranked among the top 50 in the NBA in 10 different statistical categories. The Suns won all seven of the games in which he had triple-doubles.