Past teammates recall Jason Kidd's greatness

Few people know the worth of a player more accurately than do his teammates - even roughly two decades later.

Jason Kidd made Alameda and Berkeley the places to be for Bay Area basketball fans from the late 1980s to the mid-'90s, when he played for St. Joseph Notre Dame High and Cal.

Calvin Byrd and Joe Nelson were Kidd's teammates with the Pilots. Randy Duck spent the 1993-94 season as Kidd's teammate with the Bears.

In separate phone interviews the past few days, Byrd, Nelson and Duck talked about how much they enjoyed playing with Kidd - and how much fun they've had following his 17-year NBA career:

Nelson: I played in the big leagues. I played with some of the greatest athletes in the world, and without question, Jason is the best athlete I've ever seen in my life.

Duck: For him to be doing it at this age (38); I'm 36 and I couldn't even imagine playing another season right now - at any level: high school level, college level, pro level. My body wouldn't accept it. There's no way. And he's playing against the best of the best. It's a huge, huge accomplishment.

Byrd: The way you can tell how impressive it is: When you talk about that point-guard position, who are the guys you talk about? Obviously, like a Russell Westbrook (22). ... Every point guard is a young guy. ... For (Kidd), he's the old man competing against all young men.

Nelson: There's a joy that comes with playing with Jason. I can't tell you how many guys - myself included - got hit in the face with passes that were on the money because they weren't ready. That's happened at every level Jason's ever played - that happens because we like watching him, too.

Byrd, regarding Kidd's ability to intimidate opposing teams in high school: By his senior year, his team was already plus 10 points just because he was on the team.

Duck: I came from Texas and I hadn't really known who Jason Kidd was. (Duck then told the story of playing against Kidd in an open-gym game. Duck was doing well until he started talking some smack to Kidd, who quickly shut down Duck.) (Kidd) proceeded to score about 12 points in a row. And he kind of gave me a pat on the back as I was leaving the court, like "Yeah, good one." People go, "Oh, now you know who Jason Kidd is." I said, "Right. OK. I get it now."