Jason Kidd, NBA Point Guard, Announces Retirement

Jason Kidd, 40, has announced that he will retire from the NBA, the league he’s played in for an impressive 19 years, reported The New York Times. Although Kidd has two more years left on his contract with the New York Knicks, he stated on Monday that it was time to take his leave of the court.

Kidd, the third oldest player in the NBA, is not the power player that he once was. In this latest season, he struggled mightily to find the basket – not sinking a single shot throughout the Knicks' second-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers. The last 18 shots he took in the postseason were all misses. It was little wonder that coach Mike Woodson only played the legendary point guard 11 minutes in the team’s final matchup against the Pacers.

“I’ve played the game for a long time,” Kidd said in a radio interview on ESPN Monday. “This was the time to move on.”

Throughout his celebrated career, he led the Phoenix Suns, the Nets and the Dallas Mavericks to impressive playoff runs. From his unmatched distribution, agility on defense and ability under the boards, Kidd has consistently been a game changer.

Kidd did what few professional athletes manage to do – age gracefully in the game. When he couldn’t do the things that made him the outstanding player of his younger days, he picked up new talents. “Early in his career, you’d give him a 3-pointer,” for NBA player and current analyst Steve Kerr said, “and later, he was a killer from there. He has a brilliant basketball mind. He figured out things and how to battle age. He morphed into a totally different player.”

Throughout his professional basketball career, Kidd has made10 All-Star Game appearances, three NBA Finals appearances and has won two Olympic gold medals.

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