No one else will ever wear Jason Kidd’s No. 5 Nets jersey.
The franchise announced Monday it would honor the greatest player in its NBA history – not to mention the new coach — by raising his number to the rafters in a ceremony prior to the Nets taking on the Heat in a nationally televised preseason game on Oct. 17.
“This is a very humbling honor and one that I will always cherish,” Kidd said in a statement. “There can be no greater recognition of an athlete’s time with any team than to have his number retired, and this gesture by the Nets organization validates a very significant portion of my career that was spent as a player with this franchise.”
Kidd will become the sixth Net to have his jersey hang from the Barclays Center ceiling, joining Drazen Petrovic, John Williamson, Bill Melchionni, Julius Erving and Buck Williams, who was the last man to have his jersey retired back in 1999.
“My warmest congratulations to Jason as we commemorate his outstanding career as an NBA player and his unparalleled contribution to the Nets franchise,” Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said in a statement. “As one chapter closes, another will soon be written and I know that we are all looking forward to Jason’s continued successes.”
Normally, teams would choose a significant regular-season game for such a ceremony, but with Kidd beginning his first season as head coach, these are unique circumstances. By holding the ceremony during the preseason, the Nets can honor Kidd’s legacy as one of the franchise’s all-time greats without detracting from his ability to prepare the team.
After arriving in a trade with Phoenix before the 2001-02 season, Kidd immediately altered the direction of the Nets’ franchise, leading the team to NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003.
He averaged 14.6 points, 9.1 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game over his six-and-a-half seasons with the Nets, leading them to six consecutive playoff appearances, two Eastern Conference Championships and four Atlantic Division titles.
Kidd was selected as an NBA All-Star five times as a Net, and was also named to three All-NBA teams and six NBA All-Defensive teams.