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Future NBA player Hall of Famer, Jason Kidd, gave his 2008 Olympic Gold Medal to Elaine Wynn because of a conversation they had while the Olympians stayed at a Wynn resort in Las Vegas, before the Olympics began. There are so many things wrong with this that I don’t even know where to begin.
First thing is this. Yes it is HIS medal and he can do whatever he wants with it. But this year’s Basketball Olympics was different. For the last four years, pundits have said America no longer is the leader when it comes to basketball. And that even though players in other foreign nations come to America to play in the NBA, American players are no longer “head and shoulders” above the rest of the world. That losing in 2004 was “inevitable” and that America should “face it.” Other countries are no longer “afraid of us” and that they take great delight in beating us. If anyone saw how Argentina celebrated by winning the 2004 Olympics, they know this is indeed true. So why would you give the medal away willy-nilly because of a conversation?
If anyone was fortunate or unfortunate enough to watch “The Road to Redemption” on NBATV, the main theme of the “redemption” was to bring back the Gold Medal to its rightful place, America, where the game was created. Everyone from Kobe, to Lebron, to Chris Paul, to coach Mike Krzyzewski, all talked about what it would mean to “bring it back.” Even Jason, when interviewed for the documentary, stated that same thing. Yet after being named to the team SPECIFICALLY to bring guidance to a team that didn’t have any in 2004, the medal meant so little to him that he gave it away. With a flip, “I already have one”, the mis-deed was done.
To give the medal away because of a “conversation” is DISRESPECTFUL to EVERY real Olympian who has ever worked and sacrificed for something that only comes around every four years. Remember them? They are the Olympians who don’t have millions of dollars. Or shoe endorsements. Or who can’t walk into almost any swanky hotel in the world and get “comped.”
If the medal meant so little to him that giving it away didn’t matter, why didn’t he give it to a charity that could have auctioned it off and done important things with the money? Or why didn’t he give it to his mother or children? A coach who helped him get to the NBA? Or to Gary Payton or Gary’s father, who Jason has said on many occasions, both helped make him the player and man he is today? Or to Coach Mike Krzyzewski? Remember, coaches don’t get the same medals!
As a former point guard, I have always had an affinity for them. From Magic, to Maurice Cheeks, to Mark Price, to John Stockton, to Isiah Thomas, to Steve Nash, to Jason, I have always enjoyed and appreciated watching good, TRUE, point guard play. And Jason should be a first ballot Hall of Famer. But this was a CLASSLESS, DISRESPECTFULL move, PERIOD.
There have been people who have defended Kidd’s decision by saying he “kept his word.” But if it is a “bad word”, where is the honor in keeping it? THERE IS NONE!
I’m not feeling Jason, PERIOD!
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