When we talk about USA Basketball, the title of Captain America is usually given to Michael Jordan , the star of the original Dream Team in 1992, or Kobe Bryant, the undisputed leader of the Redeem Team in 2008. While both Mike and Kobe have a legitimate claim for that title, Jason Kidd does, too.
The Dallas Mavericks head coach owns the best record of any player who has suited up for the U.S. men's basketball team in actual competition. J-Kidd was undefeated in wearing the Stars and Stripes like Mike and Kobe. Still, with a 46-0 record in international competition, no one has a better mark than him in Team USA colors.
Helped Team USA win five different tournaments
Kidd began his Team USA career in 1999 when he played for the squad participating in the 1999 Tournament of the Americas in Puerto Rico. That team went 10-0 and defeated Canada 92-66 to win the gold medal and earn a trip to the 2000 Summer Olympics. ten-time All-Star went on to play for the 2000 Olympic team that went 8-0 and won gold.
He returned to play for the Tournament of Americas again in 2003 and 2007. With Team USA going undefeated in both competitions, Kidd added another 20-0 mark to his resume.
The 2011 NBA champion then capped off his USA Basketball playing career by being a part of the 2008 Redeem Team, which went 8-0 in Beijing, giving him a 46-0 overall record.
Interestingly, Jason was supposed to be a member of the 2002 U.S. Team at the FIBA World Championships and the 2004 Athens Olympics. However, he withdrew from both squads due to injury. Had he played for those teams, we wouldn't be talking about him right now because both those teams lost their respective tournaments.
Related: "Why does he change his hair color or paint his nails? That shouldn't be important to us" – Michael Jordan gives honest take on new Bulls teammate Dennis Rodman in 1995
He played a 'special' role in 2008
Unlike his previous stints in Team USA, where he played a key role on the squads, Kidd played sparingly on the 2008 Redeem team , averaging just 13.5 minutes per game. However, as he said in an interview last year, his main job on the team was to get Kobe and LeBron to communicate .
"Our first practice was a surreal moment because everyone's kinda like watching who's gonna do what, what's LeBron going to do, what's Kobe going to do, and my job was to get those two to talk," revealed Kidd.
Kidd averaged just 2.0 assists per game during the Beijing Olympics. But everyone knows the biggest assist he made was when he helped Kobe loosen up and create a synergy with LeBron. That was the key to victory. And for Kidd, it was also probably his biggest win as a team member, considering what was at stake for the Americans in that tournament.
Related: "That's no knock on Jason" - Penny Hardaway's believed his resurgence in the '99-00 season stemmed from Jason Kidd's injury
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