The Brooklyn Nets organization will officially retire former Nets guard and current Nets head coach & part owner Jason Kidd’s New Jersey Nets jersey, in a ceremony prior to tonight’s 8 P.M. preseason game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Kidd’s #5 joins Nets retired jerseys Wendell Ladner (#4), Bill Melchionni (#25), Julius Erving (#32), John Williamson (#23), Drazen Petrovic (#3), and Buck Williams (#52).
Kidd has stated publicly that he wanted the jersey retirement to come in preseason so as not to distract from the team during the regular season. He’s suspended for the first two games of the regular season following a DUI plea, a suspension that’s consistent in the league.
For 506 regular season games and 78 playoff games in six and a half seasons, Kidd controlled the helm in New Jersey. He led the team to six straight playoff appearances and six consecutive seasons of .500 or better, the longest such streak in franchise history. He finished his Nets career with 4,620 assists, far and away the most of any player in franchise history. He also holds the Nets franchise record for three-point field goals (made and attempted), steals, and ranks fourth overall in points scored.
Pictures of the banner have leaked online, but out of respect to Kidd and his family, we won’t show them here. We’ll merely say: if you want to find them, you can. Or, you can wait until tonight to see the banner raised in its official ceremony. Up to you.
