Jason Kidd: The End of an Era of Excellence

Rodrigue Beaubois and Jason Kidd/espn.go.com

by Matt Rose

For the last seventeen years, Jason Kidd has exemplified the leadership, unselfishness, loyalty, and talent that every NBA team desires in not only their point guard, but also their franchise icon. Unfortunately, Kidd’s tank seems to be approaching empty and the mileage has begun to take a toll on the parts.

Through sixteen games this season, Kidd is recording career lows in field-goal percentage (28.2%), three-point percentage (25.8%), rebounding (4.4 RPG), assists (5.1 APG), steals (1.6 SPG), and points (4.1 PPG). Even worse, Kidd’s player efficiency rating is at a staggering 9.31. At 38, Kidd’s decline was expected, but not to this extent. Granted, he is playing five less minutes per game, but that likely has as much to do with his performance as his age.

It is time for him to take a back-seat in Dallas. He can still contribute and provide leadership on the Mavs, but Rodrigue Beaubois needs minutes at point guard right now. After getting off to a slow start, the twenty-three year-old is averaging 10.9 PPG and 2.8 APG in his last ten games. Beaubois provides youth and athleticism to an aging team. Kidd will—and should—remain the starter, but Beaubois gives the Mavs the best chance to win if he builds on the impressive stretch of performances he has put together.

Kidd has been named to ten All-Star games, six All-NBA Teams (5 first teams and 1 second team), nine All-NBA Defensive teams (4 first teams and 5 second teams), and was the co-Rookie of the Year in 1995 with Grant Hill. In 2009, SLAM Magazine placed Kidd twenty-eighth in the top fifty players of all-time. Four years after he retires, Jason Kidd will unanimously be voted into the Hall of Fame and anointed one of the best point guards in the history of the NBA.