Jason Kidd: A Career in 4 Acts

Act one: With the second pick in the 1994 draft the Dallas Mavericks, the worst team not only in basketball but in all of professional sports, are looking to draft a savior. They think have found one by drafting California point guard Jason Kidd. Kidd lives up to hype early on helping the team improve by 23 games and earning the NBA co-rookie of the year award. Kidd is a highly gifted passer with great quickness who is also able to play excellent defense. His one glaring weakness is his lack of outside shooting prowess.
However after that early success thing begin to fall apart for Kidd off the court which leads to locker room dysfunction. He feuds with his 3J's counterparts Jim Jackson and Jamal Mashburn over among other things the affection of pop singer Toni Braxton. After a tough start to the 96-97 season which includes many disagreements with new coach Jim Cleamons, Kidd is traded by the team's new ownership to Phoenix ending what had started out as such a promising new era for Dallas.

Act two: Kidd's performance continues to improve with a new start in Phoenix. Surrounded by a talented supporting cast Kidd is widely regarded as the game's preeminent point guard. However postseason success eludes Kidd and the Suns as the team only manages to win one playoff series in Kidd's five year stay in Phoenix. Most disappointing is Kidd's arrest on domestic violence charges after hitting his wife. This incident causes the team to trade Kidd into basketball exile in New Jersey marking another disappointing end to Kidd's tenure with a club.


Act three: Instead of sulking in New Jersey Kidd instead makes the team a winner for the first time since its days in the ABA. Kidd is the runner-up for MVP in 2002 and leads the team to consecutive trips to the NBA Finals. However the teams falls in both series and things begin to one again deteriorate. Kidd is blamed for the ouster of coach Byron Scott and the team's play begins to gradually go downhill. Kidd is still playing at a high level but some question whether he has lost a step and still the player he once was. Eventually the team decides to rebuild and Kidd is sent back to Dallas at the trade deadline in 2008.

Act four: Back on a contending team in Dallas Kidd remakes himself as a crafty veteran who has become an elite three point shooter. However questions come up after the Mavs are eliminated in the first of the 2008 playoffs and the player New Jersey received for Kidd, Devin Harris becomes an all-star. Those questions begin to put the rest after the Mavs beat the Spurs in the 2009 playoffs and are put to bed after an exceptional season this year. The only question still left unanswered for Kidd is whether he will ever achieve the status of NBA champion. With the way he is playing and the leadership and maturity he is displaying we know he will not fall short because of lack of effort or desire.