Sunday, September 19th, 2010 at 1:00 pm  |  86 responses

Top 50: Jason Kidd, no. 44

The definitive ranking of the NBA’s best players.

by Doobie Okon

On last year’s Top 50 rankings, Jason Kidd ranked 45th. This year, the savvy veteran point guard of the Dallas Mavericks has moved up a spot. That may not seem like much of a jump to you, but it’s quite impressive for the oldest guy on the list to move up, let alone remain in the Top 50 at all. But at age 37, the Kidd formerly known as Ason is still running offenses to a tee. And at age 37, he is still better suited for the pJason Kiddosition than most point guards in the NBA.

Has Jason lost a step? Sure. But it’s not like he’s breaking down. He’s still more durable than most point guards, playing in at least 80 games the last five seasons and also averaging 36 minutes a game last year, sixth amongst point guards.

And the Kidd isn’t taking up space at his ripe old age either. Jason’s first season (‘94-95) was the last and only year in which he finished outside the top five in assists. No difference last year, folks — his 9.1 assists per game was good for fifth behind only Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Rajon Rondo. The court vision is still there. The speed? Eh. The J? Eh. The defense? Eh….it hasn’t improved with age, but he’s still one of the better defenders at the position.

So how do you stick around like JKidd has all these years? Clearly the 10-time All-Star has kept in great shape, but his decision making seems to be just as keen as it was in the ’90s. Out of those top five assist leaders, Kidd’s 3.71 assist-to-turnover ratio was second only to Chris Paul, who played in just 45 games for the Hornets last year.

And maybe, for Kidd, his ability to stay up there with the best, year in and year out, goes beyond the stats. Maybe it’s a matter of hunger. Now in his second stint with the Mavericks, Jason isn’t spending his twilight years fading away from relevance on a sad team, but, instead, he runs a squad that has legitimately contended for the last decade. And the expectations shouldn’t diminish for ‘10-11, where the Mavs will get Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood for a full season in addition to the core of Kidd-Dirk-Terry-Marion.

Dallas is still one of the best teams out West, but those four ain’t getting any younger and you can’t help but think that their window is closing. And like his team, Jason’s first championship ring still eludes him, and that has to be so frustrating for a 16-year vet who hasn’t missed the Playoffs since 1996. Kidd’s 121 playoff games is by far the most of any active player who has not won a championship. Nowitzki is a little bit behind Kidd at 103 playoff games, so you know there’s no shortage of desire amongst the two Dallas stars for the upcoming season.

Jason has the stats (10,923 career assists, second only to John Stockton), the All-Star pedigree, and plenty of numbers to ensure him in a spot in the Hall of Fame someday. So now, for Kidd, it’s about one thing and one thing only — that Larry O’Brien. And whether or not he gets his hardware someday, and whether or not you think Kidd should warrant this No. 44 ranking, it’s impressive that this 37-year-old is still getting the respect and recognition as one of the best.

SLAMonline TOP 50 PLAYERS OVERALL RANK POSITION RANK
Player Team Position 2010 2009 2010 2009
Ray Allen Celtics SG 50 36 11 10
Gilbert Arenas Wizards SG 49 34 10 9
Lamar Odom Lakers PF 48 33 14 10
John Wall Wizards PG 47 NR 13 NR
OJ Mayo Grizzlies SG 46 46 9 12
Al Horford Hawks C 45 NR 6 NR
Jason Kidd Mavs PG 44 45 12 10

Notes
• Rankings are based solely on projected ’10-11 performance.
• Contributors to this list include: Jeremy Bauman, Maurice Bobb, Erildas Budraitis, Sean Ceglinsky, Ben Collins, Bryan Crawford, Sandy Dover, Adam Figman, Manny Maduakolam, Eddie Maisonet, Ryne Nelson, Doobie Okon, Ben Osborne, Charles Peach, Branden Peters, Quinn Peterson, David Schnur, Todd Spehr, Kyle Stack, Adam Sweeney, Dennis Tarwood, Tracy Weissenberg, Lang Whitaker, Eric Woodyard, and Nima Zarrabi.
• Want more of the SLAMonline Top 50? Check out the archive.

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  • http://dsjfklf.com Jukai

    I’m not gonna argue Anna against Spanny because, honestly, Spanny’s right.
    But the Lebron thing was done. Kobe almost shot Team USA out of the f*cking tournament and was AWFUL defending European defenders, Lebron showed he was totally superior. But because ONE game Kobe hogged the ball and shot well (while also letting Fernandez keep Spain in the game), we’re giving KOBE credit for team USA?
    Oh good f*cking lord…

  • http://dsjfklf.com Jukai

    Lebron thing was dumb*
    Sorry, Spanny’s posts hurt my brain. He’s also afraid to respond to me because I was right about Greece, and that shows I know more about his team than he does, so he hasn’t talked to me since.

  • The Stro Show

    As for Parker/Rondo, I completely agree that Rondo is being over rated by most people and I’d say Parker and Rondo are about even skill-wise. With that said, I guarantee SLAM will have Rondo ranked significantly higher than Parker on this list.

  • http://dsjfklf.com Jukai

    Parker is coming back from several injuries, Rondo is coming back from a championship. Rondo is a more surefire way.
    I personally think Parker is a better player, but I think the SYSTEM Rondo is in allows him to bring more to the table than Parker. I know people SHUN using the word ‘system’ unless it’s about discrediting Nash’s accomplishments, but it’s true. Parker is in a system that holds him back. Rondo is in a system that lets him dominate. Parker is coming back from injuries. Rondo is totally healthy. Hmmm I’m gonna give Rondo the one up here.

  • JTaylor21

    @Juaki, good points but I do think that Rondo’s the better overall point in terms of rebounding, passing, defense, and leadership (rondo has become a very good leader). The only things that TP has on him is scoring and shooting, they are equal in terms of speed, quickness, and having the luxury of playing their whole careers with all-time greats. Rondo over Parker in my opinion.

  • wottywo

    Rondo misses to many shots and easy layups, and the only reason Rondo is able to dominate(yea right) is because there’s so many stars around him(The Celtics will only be Rondo’s when the stars around him leaves, maybe). And lets not forget Tony Parker has 3 rings with a finals MVP trophy, Rondo’s game is to messy to consider him a equal with Tony Parker(oh my god, I don’t even like Tony Parker, and you guys have me defending him). How many playoff games and Final appearance’s will Rondo be in once all of the stars(Ray,Paul,Kevin)retire?

  • The Lord of Nsam (formerly known as Fresh Prince)

    @ Greek guy, AI won a Bronze medal in 2004 in GREECE!

  • JTaylor21

    How many playoff games and Final appearances will TP have when TD retires? Riddle Me that.

  • wottywo

    @JTaylor21: Look I’m not looking at the playoffs, because when both of their stars leave then they wont be even considered a playoff team. I’m looking at who is doing better then who even with the stars. Rondo’s teammates(the big 3) that he has, has established their careers way before Rondo. The Spurs kinda did, but they lost a lot of talent, and when Tony Parker’s number was called he managed and learn his game and developed. All I’m saying is(remember what he said to Chris Paul, something about he’s better then Paul)he will eat those words soon, and I’m reading the future,Rondo will be traded either right after or a couple years later after the big three leaves. Who do you think will have the better career after there stars are gone?
    Oh yea, and Tony Parker only has Duncan(if you want to say Mano then go ahead. Rondo has Paul,Allen,and Kevin,come on.

  • http://www.slamonline.com J

    ABOUT THE OLYMPICS: there’s a story where a guy was hammering a rock about a hundred times but he couldn’t break it into pieces. But on his 101st hit of the hammer he finally broke it. Now did he finally smashed it into parts because of the 101st hit? No. It is because of the 100 previous ones. Now I’ll leave it to you to relate that to the 08 Olympics…

  • http://dsfjkldf.com Jukai

    wottywo: Look, I think Parker is better than Rondo (watching Parker lead France, I realize Parker actually could be a better passer and rebounder than he appears) but like… Parker is only a half step better. Don’t discount the wonders that Rondo can do on defense. As as much the Spurs offense hurts Parker’s offense, the Spurs superior defence really hides the fact that Parker isn’t that great. Nash bad? Probably not. But the gap between Rondo and Parker on defense is greater than that of Parker and Nash.
    J: So cause Kobe missed 100 shots, he hit the 101st? Thanks.

  • http://www.slamonline.com J

    @ Juks: no wow Juks you can’t figure it out. i mean Kobe’s great game in the finals against Spain isn’t the only reason they won the game.

  • http://www.slamonline.com J

    @Jukai: I mean we can’t take away credit from the others that made them able to “break the rock” (win the gold)..

  • Ang

    TONY PARKER IS KILOMETERS BETTER THAN RONDO! TONY HAS AT TIMES OVER THE YEARS CARRY THE SPURS WHEN TIM AND MANU WERE HURT. RONDO COULD NEVER DO THAT. FINALS MVP YOU GUMBY LOOKIN MOTHERFU(KER!!!!

  • http://www.slamonline.com J

    ^ eva longoria

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    Tony Parker doesn’t rack up as many assists as Rondo but he is WAY WAY WAY better than Rondo in scoring. So, I don’t know. Parker is one of those PGs considered great but don’t actually get that many assists, and scoring output isn’t even over 20 ppg usually (highest is 22, beyond that it’s always been around 18). I guess it’s sacrificing for the team, as manifest by the 3 pieces of hardware.

  • http://hoopistani.blogspot.com hoopistani

    bullshit… ason should be ranked about 60 on the list

  • Kostas

    @Bourousis: Agapite Gianni, I’m a Greek myself; and although I marvel at your unrelented commitment to posting as often as you can and respect your love for European players, I will have to ask you to tone it down a bit. You’re pissing people off, and turning them into Euro-haters. They’re not taking you seriously. You don’t have to care (and you probably don’t), but I do. Hoop lovers in the States need to find out more about European ball, and “Calderon>>>Drose” is not the way to do it. And please, give it a rest with Iverson and Starbury. Everyone knows they’re overrated, and you’re just making people want to defend their reputation. Why don’t you post little-known facts about European stars instead? Instead of subjective “this guy is better than that guy” aphorisms. Halarose, file (chill, dude). Thanks.

  • wottywo

    I get what you guys are saying, I just dont like Rondos basketball game that he tries to play. And when it comes to the U.S.A team, Kobe wasn’t the talk of the team, Wade was the hype and the backbone of that team, so please reconsider that thought. Kobe was just there basically as a defender(Kobe can play Defense?).

  • jufu

    thank god someone’s showing my favorite player some respect.

  • Harlem_World

    Another co-sign on the Rondo is overrated campaign. I know this is JKidd post, but it’s relevant. Rondo is the new age JKidd. Pass-first point guard, good defender with no jumper. However, JKidd at Rondo’s age would destroy him, he was quicker, stronger and his vision is better (although Rondo can dime). As far as TP goes, he’s far from my favorite PG – but he is better than Rondo. Any other opinion has just come from good marketing.

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  • http://www.twitter.com/jtrain73 Jono

    This guy MADE K-Mart an all-star. He single handedly put K-Mart on ESPN in the early 00 Jersey days.

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  • $am

    How is Jason Kidd a better basketball player than Gilbert Arenas?! Haha, funniest thing I heard all day.

  • RedRum

    Kid is one of my favourite players of all time. I completely understand his decision not to join the team that beat him the year before, but had he gone to the Spurs after he lost to them in the Finals I am pretty certain we would be talking about a dynasty. One of the best players ever that does not have a ring.

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  • evan

    Jason kidd is my favourite player,he can pass the ball to all the teammates in the court and make them batter.Maybe he just miss a ring,but there is no doubt that he must be a legend!!!!Good luck for Kidd!!

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