Jason Kidd - USA Basketball

USA Basketball

Jason Kidd's first participation in USA basketball came after his first season at Berkeley. He was the only freshman chosen to take part in Team USA's 10-member team. The team played five games in Europe and finished with a record of 3–2. Kidd tied for team highs in assists per game with 4.0, and steals per game with 1.4. He also had averages of 8.4 points per game, and 4.2 rebounds per game.

Kidd's next stint with USA basketball came in 1999 where he participated in the USA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The team finished with an undefeated record of 10–0 resulting in a gold medal and earning a berth at the 2000 Olympics. Kidd averaged 7.4 PPG, 6.8 APG, 4.4 RPG, 2.7 SPG and again led the team in APG and SPG.

In 2000, Kidd was appointed as one of Team USA's tri-captains for the 2000 Olympics at Sydney. Kidd again led the team to an undefeated record of 8–0 which resulted in team USA winning the gold medal at the Olympic games. Kidd had averages of 6.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, and had team highs of 4.4 apg, and 1.1 spg. Kidd also had a FG% of 51.6 and shot 50% from 3-point range.

In November 2002, Kidd was selected to participate in the 2002 USA Basketball Men's World Championship Team. However, he had to withdraw from the team due to an injury.

Kidd came back the next year and participated at the 2003 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico. Kidd again led the team to a record of 10–0, bringing home the gold medal and a berth at the 2004 Olympics. Kidd started all 10 games and had averages of 3.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 5.9 apg, and 1.2 spg.

However, Jason Kidd again had to withdraw from the 2004 Olympic team due to another injury.

In 2007, Kidd participated in the FIBA Americas Championship 2007. Kidd helped the team to a 10–0 record where he brought home another gold medal and a berth at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. Kidd had averages of 1.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 4.6 apg, and 1.3 spg. He also shot 60% from the field and 62.5% from 3-point distance. Kidd led the entire tournament with assist-to-turnover ratio of 9.20. With Kidd's help team USA averaged 116.7 ppg, and defeated their opponents by a margin of 39.5 ppg.

In 2008, Kidd participated in the 2008 Olympics where the team yet again went undefeated in winning their first gold medal since the 2000 Olympics. The team, given the "Redeem team" moniker because of failures in the 2002 FIBA World Championship and 2004 Summer Olympics, were once again crowned to be the best team in world basketball.

Jason Kidd has an impressive resume in USA basketball. In his professional career, he has an undefeated record of 56–0 including exhibition games. He has brought home five gold medals: three from Olympic qualifying tournaments, one from the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and one from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

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