Tony Parker and Jason Kidd were once almost teammates, and the former wasn’t happy about it.
According to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, the San Antonio Spurs made a strong push for Jason Kidd back in 2003 before he ultimately re-signed with the then New Jersey Nets:
For everything that’s been so methodical and understated with these Spurs, for the painstaking and resourceful way that they’ve constructed a four-time NBA championship franchise, they made a rare brash bid in free agency for a max-out superstar.
After beating Kidd and the Nets in the 2003 NBA Finals, the Spurs stayed the course on a year-long plan to sign him to a five-year, $80 million contract. His visit to San Antonio left him breathless, an elaborate and precise recruiting pitch that spared no detail on how the next five years of his career could play out. The Nets never realized how badly he wanted to be wooed until it was too late, until Jason and his then-wife, Joumana, were emailing photos from the lavishly decorate hotel suite to Nets president Rod Thorn.
Kidd inevitably stayed in New Jersey, but he was closer to leaving the Nets than most ever realized.
Ten years later, as Parker leads the Spurs into battle against the Miami Heat to try and procure the fourth NBA championship of the Big Three era, San Antonio should have no regrets about how it panned out.
“Our hope was to make it all work,” Buford told Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday. “It was never a choice of one or the other. Jason was a unique player that doesn’t require a team that played traditionally.”
Gregg Popovich and company had visions of a starting backcourt that included both Kidd and Parker and knowing the Spurs, they could have made it all work. That summer, Parker admitted that he couldn’t make it work. He didn’t want the team to sign Kidd.
“I know I’m the best point guard for this team,” Parker said in 2003. “I can lead this team. I know deep down in my heart I can. I’m only 21, but I’m going to get better.”
And he did get better. Today, he’s one of the top point guards in the league, with three championship to his name. Now seeking a fourth, the Spurs should have no regrets—especially considering their biggest regret may have come had they signed Kidd.
“If he came here, I don’t think I would be in San Antonio,” Parker told Woj years later.
Brutally honest? Absolutely, but Parker has never been one to shy away from the truth. If he says he would have left, then believe he would have left. And where would that have left the Spurs? Honestly, San Antonio doesn’t want to know.
Kidd had a Hall of Fame career, and perhaps he would have been great with the Spurs, but he just retired. At 31, Parker is nearly a decade younger than him and has plenty left in the tank. Striking out on Kidd actually put the Spurs in a better position for the future. They still have someone to build around when Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili say goodbye. That’s huge.
Still, it’s tough not to wonder how it would have played out. Had Parker become more accepting of the circumstances, who knows how much damage that backcourt could have done. The Spurs sure don’t.
Three victories away from their fourth title in the last 11 years, they don’t want to.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
