NBA / Apr 19, 2010 / 4:56 pm

Jason Kidd: Best PG of the last 20 years?

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Jason Kidd, Dime #40

Welcome to the “extreme” era of sports media. Thanks to an increasing number of outlets having to fight for an decreasing attention span of the audience, we’re not getting an overabundance of extreme arguments: Everything is “the best” or “the worst,” a smash hit or a bust, an all-time epic or an utter disaster. The point is, say something that makes people listen to you and put down the remote or chill on the left-click.

Charles Barkley is good for throwing out those extreme statements. During last night’s Spurs/Mavs highlight, Barkley blurted out, “He’s the best point guard of the last 20 years” in regards to Jason Kidd. The guys in the studio immediately jumped on him for ranking Kidd ahead of John Stockton, and when Barkley didn’t really have a response, it gave me the idea that this was just another of those random extreme statements intended to cause debate. (And it’s not that Barkley was totally off-base. I’d probably have Kidd #1 in the post-Magic/Isiah era, too. But I wonder how much Chuck thought about it before he said it.)

Well, it worked. Going back to 1990 — at the tail end of Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas‘ careers, so let’s make it interesting and exclude them from this group — where does Kidd rank among NBA point guards?

You’ve got Stockton, Gary Payton, Kevin Johnson, Mark Price, Tim Hardaway, Penny Hardaway, Muggsy Bogues, Mark Jackson, Nick Van Exel, Mookie Blaylock, Terrell Brandon, Allen Iverson (if you consider him a PG), Steve Nash, Stephon Marbury, Rod Strickland, Sam Cassell, Baron Davis, Gilbert Arenas, Andre Miller, Chauncey Billups, Deron Williams, Tony Parker, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and the new rookie class of ’09-10, featuring Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings and Stephen Curry.

Where does Kidd fit in? Is he really the best PG of the last two decades? Who makes up your Top 10?

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  • johnsacrimoni

    Some really ignorant comments here. Yes Kidd is arguably the best point guard of the last 20 years, it’s between him and Stockton. Anyone who has ever watched a basketball game knows there is so much to Kidd’s game that never shows up in the box score. I consider the Big O to be a shooting guard, to that end it is definitely Magic number one, Isiah and Stockton after him, and then Kidd for sure. You also have Frazier and Nash, then probably Payton. Deron Williams and Chris Paul both have the potential to be all-timers too.

  • fLaVa

    its funny how none of the PGs mentioned above won a championship if i m not mistaken, with that being said.

    1. Kidd
    2. Stock
    3. Nash
    4. Payton

  • rick773

    @ Flava GP won a chip with MIA

  • franco

    stephon marbury hands down will shut any of those crap PGs down all day

  • NTstateOFmind

    just wondering- how many triple-doubles has Stockton had?

  • sh!tfaced

    @Ian… But at least jumping shooting Malone was a hell of a lot more consistent scorer than RJ or K-Mart and all the other cats Kidd got to play with…

  • sh!tfaced

    Stockton had ONE triple-double in his whole career.

  • Celts Fan

    @K – AI IS NOT A 1. He spent his entire career starting next to PGs like Eric Snow and Anthony Carter. That makes him a 2.

    Even if he was a 1, he was too much of a ballhog to really affect his teams’ ability to win games. Sure, Billy King was garbage, but even when Allen had a good team around him (they got him plenty of sidekicks – Stackhouse, Larry Hughes, Iggy) he needed to dominate the ball. His only truly successful team was when it was a bunch of role-players and spot-up guys with AI taking 30 shots a game. I watched most of his prime (lived in Philly at the time) and that man was one of the best entertainers I’ve ever watched, but that didn’t translate to consistent winning (“YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!” Thanks Herm.) AI will (should anyway) go down as one of the 30-40 best individual players ever, but in terms of guys you’d want to help you win titles, there are hundreds I’d take over him. Not hating, just being real.

    Even if AI was a 1, here’s the list:

    1. Stockton
    2. Kidd
    3. Glove
    4. Nash
    5. Answer

    @Rick and Flava – you’re both right. Payton won a ring with the Heat, but “The Glove” never got one (though he locked up MJ and helped Seattle take 2 games from the 72-win Bulls. That’s gotta count for a lot!)

  • JD

    maybe change that to “Kidd is the best point guard in the last 10 years” instead :)

  • KanDMan

    The role of a PG is to assist your team to win..that being said JKidd is a walking triple double. Grabs a board push the rock and either distribute or score. His list of teamates is questionable at best..no Nalone on the list. he used to called ason Williams cuz he had no “J”..cant leave him open anymore. Magic who is considered the best was also a walking triple double..

  • mrparker

    Re Stockton or Kidd

    Grading on the curve I’d say they’re both A-’s against Magic’s A+. Who cares which A is better than another A.

    How many conference championship teams have had their point guard be their best player.

  • @BklynDre

    1.Stokton

    2.Kidd

    3.Nash

    4. marck jackson

    5. payton

  • Random

    1. Stockton
    2. The Glove
    3. J. Kidd
    4. Nash
    5. Mark Jackson
    6. Kevin Johnson
    7. Mr. Big Shot
    8. Hardaway
    9. CP3
    10.D-Will

  • robj

    1. A. Miller
    2. R. Strickland
    3. S. Blake
    4. P. Mills
    5. T. Porter

  • NJ4Life

    Hands down, Kidd is a top 3 pg of all time, behind only Magic and Stock. Oh and I forget who mentioned it but Kidd’s best season he averaged 18.8ppg, in ’03.

    Last 20 Years:

    1. Kidd
    2. Stockton
    3. Payton
    4. Nash
    5. Jackson

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