“Making Us Think He’s God’s Gift”: Jason Kidd’s 76 Game Knicks Stint Had JR Smith and Iman Shumpert Enamored with His Assists

The final stop on Jason Kidd‘s Hall of Fame career was a one-year stint with the New York Knicks. He was 39 when his farewell season commenced, but he still was an incredible playmaker. Former Knicks stars J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert were part of the franchise’s roster during Kidd’s final season in the league. On an episode of the Sixth Sense podcast, the duo revealed how easy it was to play with the legendary point guard on the team.

Smith revealed that Kidd made it clear to the team that he had no interest in getting buckets despite being the primary ball handler when he was on the court. He said, “When J-Kidd first got to the team, he said, ‘Listen, I’m gonna get you six points a game. All you gotta do is run the floor. It was like six to eight points.”

Shumpert, known for his defensive prowess, claimed Kidd unlocked his offensive repertoire like no point guard had ever done. Explaining how easy playing with the 2011 NBA Champion was, he said, “There was times you were cutting back door and it’s just, ‘I am open. I could dunk this. I can windmill this if I wanted to. I did shoot nine-for-ten in warm-ups right here, this very corner. Thank you, Jason.'”

Shumpert added that Kidd was incredibly difficult to guard against despite being 39. Even in his final season in the league, he was the best player on the court every time he played. To summarize the impact of the former Dallas Mavericks guard’s wizardry, Shumpert declared,

“This man making us think he [is] God’s gift and he ain’t looked at the basket at all.” 

 

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Kidd averaged six points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in his final season in the NBA. While the numbers don’t stand out, Smith and Shumpert’s revelation indicates how efficient he was at opening up scoring opportunities and passing lanes for his teammates.

Smith had his best scoring year playing alongside Kidd. During their sole campaign together in the 2012-13 NBA season, the shooting guard averaged 18.1 points, the highest mark of his career. Unsurprisingly, he holds the Hall of Famer in high regard despite playing only one season together.

 Jason Kidd valued passing above everything

J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert’s opinion of Jason Kidd is a common sentiment among his teammates. The point guard was an exceptional passer and valued feeding his teammates over scoring points. He averaged 7.7 assists in his rookie season in the 1994-95 campaign, and post that, he averaged at least eight assists for 16 straight seasons.

Kidd’s assists average finally dipped below eight in the penultimate season of his career when his playing time also went down to only 28.7 minutes per game. He called it a day on his career in 2013 and finished with 12,091 assists. He’s one of only two players in the NBA, alongside Hall of Famer John Stockton, to provide 12,000 assists to their teammates.

Kidd played a vital role in helping the Dallas Mavericks win the NBA title in 2011. At age 37, he played 80 games and averaged 7.9 points, 8.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.7 steals. His veteran presence, playmaking ability, and leadership were critical in helping Dallas score an upset series win against LeBron James and the Miami Heat in 2011.

It was a sweet victory for Kidd, who had unceremoniously left the Mavericks for the Phoenix Suns in his third season in the NBA. He returned to the team 11 years later and won his only NBA title with the franchise that drafted him into the league. Jason Kidd is inarguably one of the greatest point guards in basketball history and one of the best at maximizing his teammates’ scoring potential, even at the expense of his points.