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Jason Kidd first came to true national prominence when a young Cal upset Duke in the 1993 NCAA tournament. He won his personal duel with Bobby Hurley and after a second year at Cal entered the NBA draft.
Although he wasn't always easy to deal with, he was a superb point guard and one of the great passers in NBA history.
Kidd finished with 12,091 career assists, second only to Utah’s John Stockton.
But Kidd had flair that Stockton never had. As you’ll see in this video, he could see things that most players never could.
When he played for Mike Krzyzewski on the US Olympic team, he realized that he wasn’t needed for scoring and focused almost entirely on defense and distributing the ball. He was superb in the role.
Since retiring, he’s moved into coaching with mixed success. His career winning percentage is just under .500 and controversies have followed him from team to team.
None of it takes away from his claim to greatness as a player though. He was clearly one of the best point guards in NBA history.