NBA: 30 NBA players you forgot acted in movies or TV shows – Jason Kidd
Jason Kidd is going to stand in here for all of the basketball players who are simply playing themselves on a court when a movie needs to interact with a basketball game. He gets the nod for two primary reasons: he is utterly embarrassed in his appearance, which is funny, and he’s a terrible actor in every facet of his life.
Kidd is in the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest point guards of all time. Few players can put together the combination of 9-time All-Defensive Team selection, 10-time All-Star and 5-time assists leader. He won Rookie of the Year at one end of his career and a title at the other end.
In 2002, right in the midst of his prime, he played himself in the movie “Like Mike”. If you are somehow not familiar with this film, it’s a children’s movie where Lil Bow Wow stars as a kid who finds a pair of Michael Jordan’s old sneakers and, when he puts them on, plays just like Michael Jordan. Then he joins a fictional NBA team and dominates the league, including making Jason Kidd look stupid (about the 1:40 mark of this trailer):
We could forgive Kidd for his wooden line delivery, but we don’t really want to, as it fits a pattern for Kidd. He’s not an actor, no matter how hard he tries. And he really tried as the coach of the Brooklyn Nets when he was out of timeouts and needed to speak with his team, as Kidd laid out a few years ago on The Jump (after explaining another acting job he attempted):
At least Kidd knows he’s a bad actor, fessing up and recommending acting school for himself. Kidd is now the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, and perhaps he can stick to improving as a coach instead of acting.