New York Knickerbockers Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations and General Manager Glen Grunwald announced today that 10-time NBA All-Star guard Jason Kidd has retired from playing professional basketball.“Jason’s value to the Knicks and the National Basketball Association cannot be quantified by statistics alone,” Grunwald said. “Everyone here in New York saw firsthand what a tremendous competitor he is and why Jason is considered to be one of the best point guards, and leaders, the game has ever seen.”
“My time in professional basketball has been an incredible journey, but one that must come to an end after 19 years,” Kidd said. “As I reflect on my time with the four teams I represented in the NBA, I look back fondly at every season and thank each every one of my teammates and coaches that joined me on the court.”
“Veteran leadership on and off the court was a huge factor for our team that recorded 54 victories and an Atlantic Division crown,” Head Coach Mike Woodson said. “Jason provided an incredible voice inside our lockerroom and I considered it an honor to say I coached him.”
Kidd, 6-4, 220-pounds, holds averages of 12.6 points, 8.7 assists. 6.3 rebounds and 1.93 steals with Dallas, Phoenix, New Jersey and New York. These Springfield-caliber career numbers have solidified his place among the greatest of the great in NBA history. On the League’s all-time leaders lists he ranks: second in season-appearances (19), sixth in games played (1,391), third in minutes (50,111), second in assists (12,091), second in steals (2,684), third in three-point field goals (1,988), 50th overall in rebounds and first overall amongst guards (8,725), 71st in points scored (17,529) and third in triple-doubles (107).
He appeared in 158 postseason games, averaging 12.9 points, 7.8 assists, 6.7 rebounds and 1.91 steals and led the Dallas Mavericks, along with current Knicks All-Star center Tyson Chandler, to the 2011 NBA Championship. He also is a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, leading Team USA in 2000 at Sydney and in 2008 in Beijing. As a member of the New Jersey Nets, Kidd appeared in back-to-back NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003.
Kidd is a 10-time NBA All-Star (1996, 1998, 2000-04, 2007-08, 2010), a five-time All-NBA First-Team selection (1999-02, 2004) and earned All-NBA Second Team honors in 2003. He was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team four times (1999, 2001, 2002, 2006) and Second Team five times (2000, 2003-05, 2007) and was the 1995 Co-Rookie of the Year. On Apr. 30, Kidd became the first-ever back-to-back recipient of the Joe Dumars Trophy presented to the 2012-13 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner, an honor voted-on by all current players.
In his first and only season with the Knicks, Kidd provided trademark backcourt leadership and stability both as a starter and off the bench. Recording averages of 6.0 points, 3.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.64 steals in 76 games, the San Francisco, CA native became just the third Knicks player to celebrate his 40th birthday in the orange and blue (joining Kurt Thomas and Herb Williams).
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