Nets Retire Jason Kidd's No. 5

The Brooklyn Nets honored one of best players in the franchise's history on Thursday night (October 17), when they retired and raised Jason Kidd's No. 5 jersey into the rafters at the Barclays Center.

The retired player, and now head coach of the Nets, was grateful and spoke in the short ceremony before the team's preseason game against the Miami Heat. He's just the sixth Nets jersey to be retired, following Julius Erving, Drazen Petrovic, John Williamson, Bill Melchionni and Buck Williams.

Kidd was drafted into the league with the #2 overall pick of the 1994 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks, after Glenn Robinson and before Grant Hill. After stints in Dallas and Phoenix, je finally made his way to New Jersey in 2001 in a trade for Stephon Marbury.

Upoon his arrival, the guard helped the Nets turnaround, as they went from winning 26 games the season before to 52 victories in his first season (2001-02). He also led the Nets to two consecutive NBA Finals appearances -- losing to Shaq's Lakers in 2002, and Tim Duncan's Spurs in 2003.

In his 6½ seasons in New Jersey, Kidd averaged 14.6 points, 9.1 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game. As a Net, he was a five-time All-Star, and was All-NBA three times and All-Defensive team six times. He owns the franchise records for assists (4,620), steals (950), 3-point field goals made (813) and triple-doubles (61).

Now, he's the head coach.