This has been rumored for about a month but on Monday the Nets made it official.
The Nets will retire the jersey of former star player, now team coach and part owner Jason Kidd on Oct. 17, before the Nets play the Heat in a preseason game.
“This is a very humbling honor and one that I will always cherish,” Kidd said in a released 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 was as good a point guard as there was in the league at his peak, which included more than six seasons in New Jersey with the Nets where he averaged 14.6 points, 9.1 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game. Kidd retired this summer after what is a lock first ballot Hall of Fame career.
When he did, he jumped at the offer of Mikhail Prokhorov to come coach the team this season (that’s just one of interesting storylines swirling around the Nets this season).
“My warmest congratulations to Jason as we commemorate his outstanding career as an NBA player and his unparalleled contribution to the Nets franchise,” said Nets Principal Owner Mikhail Prokhorov in his statement. “As one chapter closes, another will soon be written and I know that we are all looking forward to Jason’s continued successes.”
Kidd’s No. 5 will join the numbers of Drazen Petrovic (No. 3), John Williamson (No. 23), Bill Melchionni (No. 25), Julius Erving (No. 32) and Buck Williams (No. 52) in the rafters at Barclays.
