Jason Kidd

He was born Jason Fredrick Kidd in San Francisco, California, on March 23, 1973. The product of an inter-racial marriage, Kidd is the son of Steve, an African American who worked his way up through the ranks at TWA from baggage handler to ticket counter supervisor, and Anne Kidd, a white computer programmer for the Bank of America. Although his parents later divorced, they remained on amicable terms until Steve's death in 1999. Kidd grew up in Alameda, a solidly middle-class suburb of Oakland. While still quite young, he became interested in soccer but by the time he entered third grade he had switched his allegiances to basketball and spent most of his free time playing the game with older boys. It was during this period that Kidd developed his strong passing skills. To ensure that he was invited back to play, he made sure to get the ball to his older teammates for easy scores.

Kidd had developed into a local scoring sensation by the time he entered high school at St. Joseph's of Notre Dame in Alameda. During his high school basketball career, he averaged twenty-five points, ten assists, seven rebounds, and seven steals per game and led his team to back-to-back California Division I championships. As a senior he was named High School Player of the Year by both USA Today and Parade magazine. After graduating from high school, Kidd enrolled at the University of California in nearby Berkeley. As a freshman he averaged thirteen points, 7.7 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game, good enough to earn him a berth on the All-Pac-10 team. In his sophomore year, Kidd averaged 16.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 9.1 assists per game and was named Pac-10 Player of the Year, becoming the first sophomore ever to win this honor.