Jason Kidd is already a Nasmith Hall of Famer, joining the elite group as part of the 2018 Class, along side Steve Nash and Grant Hill. Saturday evening, Kidd entered the Hall again in a different capacity: as a member of the 2008 Redeem Team.
Kidd, joined by teammates LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd, and Deron Williams, as well as head coach Mike Krzyzewski, and assistant coaches Jim Boeheim and Mike D’Antoni,
entered the Hall as a part of the 2025 Class.
This team holds a special place in basketball history. After dominating the Olympics in 1992, 1996, and 2000, Team USA fell in surprising fashion in Greece in 2004, winning Bronze. That particular team was not well constructed and featured many up-and-coming stars like James who had not yet entered their prime. Team USA also took Bronze in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, prompting America’s best players to vocally declare it was time to take back the gold.
Led by Kobe Bryant, since deceased in a tragic plane crash, Team USA dominated in China, really only getting tested by Spain in the Gold medal game. While Kidd played in all eight contests, he played a supplementary role, averaging around 13 minutes a contest.
While Kidd had extensive experience with Team USA dating back to the late 90’s, he took a break from 2003 until 2007 when he rejoined the team as America needed to qualify for the Olympics in the FIBA Americas tournament. By August of 2008, he was 35 years old and firmly in the veteran portion of his career (though he would still play five more years in the NBA). Kidd was the oldest player on the team by five years, with Kobe Bryant the only other member in his 30’s (Kobe was exactly 30).
In the breadth of Kidd’s long career, his rostering on this team is hard to rank. But in basketball history, this team is very important, particularly for American basketball. It’s really cool that Kidd is a part of history in this way.
