Top 50 NBA players from last 50 years: Jason Kidd ranks No. 27
Editor's Note: As part of a new series for his podcast, "What’s Wright with Nick Wright," FOX Sports commentator Nick Wright is ranking the 50 best NBA players of the last 50 years. The countdown continues today with player No. 27, Jason Kidd.
Jason Kidd’s career highlights:
- 10-time All-Star
- Five-time first-team All-NBA, one-time second team
- Four-time All-Defensive first team, five-time second team
- 2002 MVP runner-up
- 1995 co-Rookie of the Year
- Five-time assists champion
- Second on all-time assists list
There were 14 years between Jason Kidd’s first All-Star appearance and his last one. Such longevity can make it tough to characterize his prime. His career is perhaps best illustrated by the shape of a pitcher’s mound in that he was always above the playing field and experienced a brief peak.
That Kidd was productive for each of his 19 NBA seasons is what makes him great.
"One guy who, and I say this in a loving way, is probably the second-greatest compiler in NBA history," Wright said. "But he was far more than that."
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One of the best point guards in NBA history, Jason Kidd was known for his vision and creativity with his passing. He is second all time in both assists (12,091) and steals (2,684) and one of three players with at least 7,500 career rebounds and 7,500 career assists. He's also fourth all time with 107 career triple-doubles.
J-Kidd is one of the best point guards in history, in fact. He just took a different route to get there.
Kidd was built like a 6-foot-4 tank and his preternatural playmaking made him an instant star out of college. He’d soon add dogged defender and cunning rebounder to his profile. The only thing Kidd wasn’t good at was shooting. It made him an ineffective scorer throughout his career — his 40% shooting mark is the lowest for any player with 12,000 attempts over the last 50 years — though he’d evolve into a good 3-point shooter in his thirties.
His best trait was making his teams better. The Mavericks improved by 23 wins during Kidd’s rookie year. The Suns won 16 more games in his first full season there. The Nets’ win total spiked by 26 after acquiring him. They also reached consecutive Finals.
In the 2002 playoffs, Kidd averaged 19.6 points, 9.1 assists and 8.2 rebounds, including 21-10-7 while being swept by the defending-champion Lakers. A year later, he put up 20-8-8 for the postseason and 20-8-6 in a six-game Finals loss to the Spurs.
"He didn’t have a lot of singularly eye-popping games," Wright said. "He was just incredibly consistent throughout these playoff runs."
They would be his only extended ones until he was 37 years old with the Mavericks. Kidd was a fifth option by then yet still a valued starter, logging the second-most minutes on the Dirk Nowitzki-led team. Kidd's playing time increased to 37 minutes per game in Dallas’ Finals upset of the Heat.
"Was he the second-best player on that Mavs team? Clearly not," Wright said. "However, the fact that he was, that late in his career, still that relevant to be getting those many minutes for a team that won the title speaks volumes."
By contributing for nearly two full decades, Kidd retired with remarkable counting stats. Only John Stockton registered more assists or steals. Kidd's nine All-Defense selections are tops among point guards, along with Gary Payton and Chris Paul. No other guard has ever grabbed more rebounds than Kidd, and just three have averaged more than his 6.7 per game over the past 50 years. He and LeBron James are the lone two players to record 8,000 rebounds and assists.
In the postseason, Kidd ranks fourth in assists and seventh in steals. His 50 postseason games with 10-plus assists are the fifth-most ever.
"[Allen Iverson] is more legendary than Jason Kidd. A.I. is more culturally relevant. And one would argue, and I would agree, A.I.’s apex was higher," Wright said. "But Jason Kidd did it so much longer."