“I fell in love with the game because it was just outside, playing with my friends.”
It makes sense when you think about it. Jason Kidd used to play soccer. Before he started basketball and then became a prolific NBA playmaker and point guard, he was a striker on the football pitch, with a nose for goals.
Recently, Dallas Mavericks head coach, Jason Kidd, sat down with FIFA to talk about his love for the beautiful game and the excitement for Dallas to be a host city during the FIFA World Cup this summer.
Jason Kidd played both sports as a kid, and he sees a lot of similarities between basketball and soccer (to be called football from now on):
“I learned a lot of terminologies,” Kidd says about his first sport, football. “The give-and-go, which is very relatable to the basketball give-and-go.”
Here’s a great example of great football give-and-go play:
When you compare this to the basketball give-and-go plays by Kidd’s Mavericks, when they were playing some of their best basketball in 2024, it’s easy to spot the similarities. Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic played some of their best basketball together when they looked for the give-and-go.
Jason Kidd also sees similarities and influences on his own game. He used it to learn about how to use speed, the importance of lower body control and IQ.
“The footwork was something that helped me, and being able to use the lower part of your body. There were a lot of similarities, like scoring a goal.”
Kidd understood what it took to score a goal, how difficult it is in football and that is something he used in basketball:
“When the coach would talk about scoring a goal basketball-wise, I understood what he meant.”
“Understanding some of the plays, like give-and-go, setting a pick, going long… There were a lot of things that I took from soccer onto the basketball floor,” Kidd said in the interview.
But football also teaches players and kids lessons that basketball just doesn’t. And that’s something Jason Kidd appreciated about it.
“I loved playing soccer. I learned about the cold, it helped me become tough. You played in the rain. You played if it was cold or it was hot.”
The joy you see on Jason Kidd’s face when he talks about football and about visiting Everton F.C., the English football club, of which he is part-owner, is quite something. He calls it a dream come true to be an owner of an English Premier League team.
“When you talk about Everton, I’m so excited,” he says.
“It’s do-or-die once a week. Just understanding the passion of European soccer.”
“I was lucky to go the past summer to their new stadium. For the singing, the support that they have week in and week out. Not even just at home, but on the road. It’s just a great experience. I wish that everyone could experience that.”
Besides being a member of the ownership group of English Premier League team Everton, Jason Kidd is also involved with the Oakland Roots [men’s] and Oakland Soul [women’s] of the United Soccer League (USL).
But Jason Kidd is not the only high profile NBA legend with a strong involvement in the English premier league. LeBron James is famously a co-owner of Liverpool F.C., which he invested in in 2011. He often wears Liverpool merchandise and jerseys, representing the great old club in Northern England.
But Liverpool is not just any old random Premier League team in this connection. It happens to be the rivals of Kidd’s Everton. Everton, also based in the city of Liverpool, is so closely intertwined with Liverpool F.C. that their stadiums are located a mere one mile from each other.
Kidd choosing to be a co-owner of a club, whose rivals count LeBron James as an investor is a humorous, extra tidbit, hopefully resulting in some fun banter between the two. And when asked, Kidd is fully aware of the history between the clubs:
Question: do you have any players who support Liverpool?
Kidd: “Well, we don’t talk about them…. If there’s any player that supports Liverpool, I’m going to have to take their minutes away [laughs].”
The historical connections between the clubs run deep, culminating in the Merseyside Derby. The rivalry traces all the way back to 1892 when a dispute within Everton led to a split between club officials. Everton had originally played at Anfield (which is the stadium of Liverpool now), but after disagreements with the club’s landlord, John Houlding, they relocated to Goodison Park, (where Everton was based until 2025). In response, Houlding founded Liverpool Football Club, setting the stage for a rivalry lasting for over 130 years.
The FIFA World Cup 2026™ takes place from June 11 to July 19 in Canada, Mexico and the United States across 16 host cities. Nine matches will be played at Dallas Stadium.
