It’s not uncommon to see crossovers between sports, as a lot of athletes grew up playing multiple sports as kids. For Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, he grew up playing both basketball and baseball, and while his career path ventured off into the basketball word, his love for America’s pastime remains the same.
Jason Kidd actually chose Cal coming out of high school because he thought he was going to be able to play both basketball and baseball in college, and now, the current Mavericks coach is starting up a new venture to keep him close to sport, as per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
Kidd will launch JK Select Baseball under the umbrella of his foundation. In basketball terms, it’s like an AAU team for baseball, similar to his highly successful JK Select Girls Basketball program. Several players who have come up under his girls’ basketball AAU program have gone on to receive Division 1 scholarships.
During a guest appearance on MLB Network, Kidd spoke about his new program amid his love for baseball.
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“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 runs back to when I was CYO in high school,” Kidd said. “This is a great opportunity for my foundation to invest, not in bats or gloves, but hopefully leaders for our future.
Kidd also detailed how although he wanted to be a dual athlete in college, he was advised by the basketball people not to play baseball, a suggestion he ultimately listened to.
That worked out pretty well for Kidd. His Hall of Fame career includes an NBA championship, 10 NBA All-Star selections, five All-NBA First Team selections, four All-Defensive First Team selections and the 1995 Rookie of the Year Award. His jersey is retired by the Brooklyn Nets and he also 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 Americas gold medals.