The Elder Statesman

How Jason Kidd’s strive for greatness made the last chapter of his player career his greatest chapter By Rashad Miller& In 2004,The USA men’s basketball team faced defeat at the hands of the Argentinian basketball team led by Manu Ginobili, thus losing their chance at bringing home the gold medal to the United States. They would win the bronze medal match against Lithuania, but players like Lebron James and Dwyane Wade felt that their efforts were in vain. That is when USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo revamped the entire men’s basketball team by bringing in then-Duke men’s head basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski and three veteran players: the late Kobe Bryant, Michael Redd and a then 35-year old Jason Kidd. Nicknamed the ‘Redeem Team’, the USA men’s basketball team went on to win the gold in Beijing and return the program back to the prestige and dominance it established in 1992. I was able to sit down with the current Dallas Mavericks head coach about his beginnings with USA basketball, his experience in Beijing, and how it motivated him to win in 2011. Kidd’s USA Basketball origins began when he was selected to be a part of the initiative that...