Jason Frederick Kidd was born on March 23, 1973 in Oakland, San Francisco. He is of mixed ethnicity of African American and Irish.
Starting out as a soccer player, he put his stamp on what would be an impressive career at a young age. He led his high school (St Joseph Notre Dame High School) to consecutive state championships and received several individual awards, including the prestigious Naismith Award for the nation’s top high school basketball player.
Jason Kidd continued his impressive form at the University of California, Berkeley and received the All-American honor; Kidd was the first Cal player to be so honored since 1968. After two seasons with the Golden Bears, he opted for the 1994 NBA draft and finished 2nd overall.
He spent a total of 19 fruitful seasons in the league, playing for the Dallas Mavericks (1994-1996, 2008-2012), Phoenix Suns (1996-2001), New Jersey Nets (2001-2008) and New York Knicks (2012-2013). He won the 2011 NBA Championship with the Dallas Mavericks. He was also selected for the NBA All-Star Game ten times and was named to the NBA First Team five times.
