Jason Kidd discovers his love for baseball amid a new venture
It’s not uncommon to see crossovers between sports, as many athletes grew up playing multiple sports as children. For Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kiddhe grew up playing both basketball and baseball, and while his career has taken off in the basketball word, his love for America’s pastime remains the same.
Jason Kidd actually chose Cal out of high school because he thought he would be able to play both basketball and baseball in college, and is now the current coach of the Mavericks starting a new venture to keep him close to the sport, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
Kidd will launch JK Select Baseball under the umbrella of his foundation. In basketball terms, it’s like an AAU baseball team, similar to its highly successful JK Select Girls Basketball program. Several of the players who have joined his AAU girls basketball program have received Division 1 scholarships.
During a guest appearance on MLB Network, Kidd talked about his new program amidst his love of baseball.
“We’re really excited about this opportunity to invest in youth sports. We all grew up playing sports, for me in the Bay Area, I loved baseball … for me, baseball goes back to when I was a CIO in high school,” Kidd said. “This is a great opportunity for my foundation to invest, not in bats or gloves, but hopefully in leaders for our future.”
Kidd also detailed how, although he wanted to be a two-time athlete in college, the basketball players advised him not to play baseball, a suggestion he eventually heeded.
That worked out pretty well for Kidd. His Hall of Fame career includes NBA Championship10 NBA All-Star selections, five All-NBA First Team selections, four All-Defensive First Team selections and Rookie of the Year in 1995. He was retired by the Brooklyn Nets and won a championship as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.
In addition to his NBA career, Kidd has two Olympic gold medals and three FIBA America gold medals.
2026-01-15 20:30:00
