Brooklyn Nets: 25 Best Players To Play For The Nets
By Phil Watson
It’s not often that the arrival of one player changes a culture, but the pairing of Jason Kidd and the New Jersey Nets made the Nets legitimate in the early 21st century.
New Jersey acquired Kidd and Chris Dudley in a July 2001 trade with the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Stephon Marbury, Johnny Newman and Soumaila Samake and became an instant contender.
Kidd was a seven-time All-Star for the Nets, a three-time All-NBA performer and was named All-Defensive six times. He was also second in the MVP voting in 2001-02.
Kidd led the NBA in assists in 2002-03 and 2003-04, was second in 2001-02, third in 2004-05 and 2006-07 and fifth in 2005-06. He also finished third in steals in 2001-02 and fifth in 2002-03.
With Kidd, the Nets reached the NBA Finals for the first time, getting there in both 2002 and 2003.
In the 2002 NBA Finals, Kidd averaged 20.8 points, 9.8 assists, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals in 42 minutes a game, shooting .438/.300/7-for-11 as the Nets were swept by the Los Angeles Lakers.
The following year, he averaged 19.7 points, 7.8 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 44.2 minutes per game on a shooting line of .364/.270/.833 in a six-game loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
In February 2008, Kidd was traded with Antoine Wright and Malik Allen to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Devin Harris, Trenton Hassell, Maurice Ager, DeSagana Diop, Keith Van Horn and first-round picks in 2008 and 2010.
In parts of seven seasons in New Jersey, Kidd averaged 14.6 points, 9.1 assists, 7.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 37 minutes per game, shooting .397/.342/.807.
He was the second overall pick out of California by the Mavericks in the 1994 NBA Draft and was co-Rookie of the Year in 1994-95 with Grant Hill of the Detroit Pistons. Kidd was also an All-Star in 1996 in Dallas.
In December 1996, he was traded to the Suns and was a three-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA selection and three-time All-Defensive pick, leading the NBA in assists three straight seasons (1998-99 through 2000-01).
In his second stint in Dallas, Kidd was an All-Star in 2010 and helped the Mavericks to an NBA title in 2011.
In July 2012, he signed with the New York Knicks, retiring in June 2013 and being hired as coach of the Nets—now in Brooklyn—nine days later.
He was 44-38 and 5-7 in the playoffs in his lone season coaching the Nets before his rights were traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in June 2014 and he was named their coach.
In two seasons in Milwaukee, Kidd is 74-90 and 2-4 in the postseason.
He is eighth in NBA history with 1,391 games, ninth with an average of 8.7 assists per game, fourth with 50,111 minutes played, fifth with 1,988 3-pointers, second with 12,091 assists and 2,684 steals, 43rd with an average of 36 minutes per game and 18th with an average of 1.9 steals per game.
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