Inductee Kidd pays tribute to Blazers’ Lillard
Oakland is the cradle of NBA point guards, but who’s the best of the bunch? Jason Kidd put in his vote Thursday, and it wasn’t for himself.
And he’s a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and a 10-time All-Star. There’s also Gary Payton, another Hall of Famer and a nine-time AllStar. Kidd didn’t vote for him, either.
“It’s a great question, a great debate, but I would vote for Lillard,” Kidd said before he was inducted to the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame at a dinner at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco.
He was referring, of course, to Damian Lillard, the prolific guard of the Portland Trail Blazers.
For that matter, Kidd also thinks the Blazers could win the NBA title. “Nobody’s really talking about them,” he said. “They’re playing at a very high level. Lillard is playing at a very high level. If you’re healthy and shooting the ball the way they are, they can beat anybody.”
Also inducted were Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer (like Kidd, already a basketball Hall of Famer), former Giants pitcher Dave Dravecky, former 49ers linebacker Keena Turner and tennis player/ coach Brad Gilbert.
It was the BASHOF’s 40th annual enshrinement banquet, an event that raises money for sports programs for at-risk youngsters.
Kidd has been looking for another head-coaching job since he was dismissed by Milwaukee midway through the 2017-18 season. He recently interviewed for the Lakers’ job but indicated he doesn’t think he’s their man.
“We had a great conversation,” he said. “I think they’re going to continue to search. There’s other candidates they’re looking at.”
As for the Cal job that went to former Georgia head coach Mark Fox, Kidd said only that he’s always interested in helping the program “if there’s anything I can do, if it be in coaching or helping with recruiting.”
Kidd, who spent two years at Cal before turning pro, thinks the days of “one-anddone” players in college basketball are numbered. “You’re going to be able to go straight from high school,” he said. He thinks that’s fine but adds, “We have to do a better job of getting kids (who fail at pro careers) to go back to school and get their degrees.”
Gilbert, best known as a coach for players like Andre Agassi, was asked where he’d put Agassi on a list of the top 10 players in the modern era. The answer: sixth, behind Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg.
“It’s pretty incredible that the three best players in the Open era are all playing at the same time,” he said.
Dravecky, one of the most inspirational athletes in the Bay Area in many years, pitched in the big leagues for eight years. He’s best known for his horrible misfortune after the 1988 season.
Doctors had discovered cancer in his left (pitching) arm and removed the cancer surgically. He was told he’d never pitch again, but in August 1989, he beat the Reds in front of a roaring crowd at Candlestick Park. His next game, though, was his last. As he threw a pitch, his humerus bone in his arm snapped. Two years later, after a recurrence of the cancer, his arm and shoulder had to be amputated.
On Thursday night, he recalled how Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, working TV, came into the dugout as the Giants were about to clinch the National League pennant in 1989. “You’re not going out there” to the ensuing celebration? Seaver asked. “Are you kidding? Of course, I am,” Dravecky replied.
“So we win. I go racing out there. All of sudden, I get hit from behind, and I break my arm again.”
Turner, a longtime executive with the 49ers, said he’s looking forward to this season.
“I’m excited about the young, new talent that we brought onto the team, about the offensive philosophy that our head coach (Kyle Shanahan) has established. I’m excited about our quarterback (Jimmy Garoppolo) and him being healthy and coming back. There’s a lot to be excited about. Do they mean anything? Not until they win.”