Technically, Jason Kidd, one of the greatest point guards ever to play the game, was the shooting guard for the Knicks Friday night.
“That’s the problem. They’ve had me in the wrong damn position all these years,” Kidd said with a laugh. “Maybe I should have been playing the three.”
With Kidd, it really never has mattered. The man who was the architect of turnarounds in Dallas, Phoenix and New Jersey before winning a title when he returned to the Mavs, sees himself as a one position guy: basketball player.
“I’ve always been a big believer in, you’re a basketball player. People label you as a point guard, a two guard, but if you know how to play the game you’re just a player,” said Kidd, who had 12 points and three assists in 23 minutes in the Knicks’ rousing 104-84 season-opening romp past the world-champion Heat at the Garden.
So forget labels. Kidd plays basketball. With the injury to Amar’e Stoudemire, the Knicks have re-arranged their personnel like displays in a Fifth Avenue window. Carmelo Anthony, All-Star three, is a sometimes four. So Kidd, Hall of Fame point, is a two in the small lineup.
“That’s something I always felt was a little overrated,” Kidd said. “You’re going to put your best guys out there on the floor when it’s crunch time. You’re a basketball player. You’re going to put your best five out there and you do whatever you can do to help your team win.”
And Kidd has always done more than the average one or two or three. You don’t build his resume by being ordinary.
“He’s such an intelligent basketball player,” said Knicks center Tyson Chandler, who won a ring with Kidd in Dallas. “His timing. He’s a coach on the floor, getting guys in the right place, making sure shots come from where we want them.
“He just does so much. He hits big shot after big shot. Every time the other team makes a run, he’s constantly knocking down a big shot. And he’s still a great defender.”
Know that part about snuffing opponents’ runs? Last night, Miami was within 12 in the third quarter, and for one of the few times in the course of the game, the crowd felt antsy. So Kidd stole a LeBron James pass and then bagged one of the Knicks’ 19 3-pointers. Bingo, 15-point lead.
“I was just glad he was in a Knicks uniform,” said coach Mike Woodson. “I’m tired of coaching against that guy for years. He’s just an ultimate pro. He knows how to play. He makes people around him better. A lot of guys on this team are going to benefit from Jason Kidd.”
And if it seemed weird seeing Kidd aligned at the two alongside Raymond Felton, even stranger was seeing him in the uniform of the team he tortured as a Net.
“It was weird. It was kind of a surreal moment,” said Kidd, admitting he felt jitters. “I get butterflies before every game.
“Playing for some time on the other side of the river and coming over here you can see how much New Yorkers love their Knicks. So I’m happy to be on this side.”