After the 2008 Olympics, Jason Kidd put his international basketball playing days behind him, retiring with a sparkling 56-0 record for Team USA.

But USA Basketball and head coach Mike Krzyzewski so value Jason’s experience and leadership that they’ve given him a way to stick around.

Jason joined the Team USA staff in Las Vegas this week as a player liaison, adviser and mentor to the team while they prepare for the FIBA World Championships, to take place in Turkey next month.

"

[He] was more important to that 2008 Beijing team than people will ever realize," Krzyzewski said of his reason for adding Jason to the Team USA staff. "Having the staff back together is huge because that is the main continuity. That’s the thing that other countries had over us all the time is that level of continuity. Now we have familiarity."

Jason is the only member of the 2008 National Team, which took home gold in the Beijing Olympics, to join the team in the Las Vegas. Each of the other players opted not to play for Team USA in 2010 and will not participate in the World Championships, though many of them could return for the Olympics in 2012.

While he watched the new USA team workout, Jason sat down on Tuesday with Rick Kamla, Mike Fratello and Dennis Scott from NBATV during the first day of Team USA training camp to discuss his role, reflect on the 2008 team and give his thoughts on the 2010 group.

"I’m honored Coach K invited me here. I’ve just been sitting in on some of the coaches meetings, just to see the other side, see how bad they talk about us and what we didn’t do in practice," Jason joked to the NBATV crew. "But it’s a great opportunity, again, to see the other side, but also to talk to the younger guys and tell them, don’t be afraid to communicate and talk to your teammates. This is your family. This is your team until September and this is a way for you to get better."

J-Kidd believes that communication between teammates will be crucial. For the team to have success, a leader or leaders have to emerge.

"We had an easy situation because we had many voices," Jason said of the ’08 squad. "LeBron, Kobe, D-Wade, Chris Paul. Everybody pitched in. But it was great, when you talk about your best players in LeBron and Kobe, from day one, they both were talking, from the first day of practice and they didn’t stop until the gold medal game."

For the current team, dotted with young, budding superstars like Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose, it’s a chance to take the reigns and make that next step as a leader.

"This is a great opportunity to become vocal, learn how to be vocal and no matter who you’re talking to, whether it’s Lamar Odom, who has won a championship, push them," Jason said. "Communicate to your teammates. They’re all 20-something years old but you can never start early enough to learn how to talk [to your teammates]. This is a great opportunity for those guys."

A LASTING MEMORY
Jason also said the experience of playing for Team USA was something he will always cherish.

"It was a great experience. To be able to represent your country is a great honor in itself. But those guys, it was like a family. We all got along. We all shared the ball well. We had a great time," he said. "Starting off two years before hand and coming together, understanding that we have one goal and that was to win the gold medal.

"To be able to hear the National Anthem and for us to achieve that goal for that journey, you get the goosebumps. You might cry, but you do definitely feel well and you feel that you achieved something. Those 12 guys, we all did that in 2008."

Kamla then asked Jason about the rumor that he didn’t plan to score throughout those entire Olympic Games to prove a point. Jason confirmed that going scoreless was his goal but it was one that, due to extenuating circumstances, he could not achieve.

"It was the truth. I didn’t want to shoot," J-Kidd. "LeBron put me in a bad situation. He gave me the ball on a fast break that I had to lay it up. It was something that I wanted to do cause I wanted to show that you don’t have to score. You don’t have to shoot. You can do other things to be successful and also be a big part of the team. That was my goal but LeBron put me in a bad situation," he joked.

WILLING TO SACRIFICE
Though he did get a few buckets himself, Jason’s point was nonetheless made and he wasn’t the only one sacrificing. Each player on that 2008 team also proved the same point to themselves, all sacrificing a little for the greater good.

"When you’re on your own team…you’re the man. Then when you come in and play for Team USA, there’s 12 guys who all feel that they’re the man," J-Kidd said. "That’s the beautiful thing about that team in 2008, everybody checked their ego. It was all about the team. Nobody cared who scored as long as we won and we played the game the right way."

While playing with for the 2008 team, Jason got an inside look at the bond that formed between LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh that eventually culminated in the three players making their own sacrifices again and coming together this summer to play for the Miami Heat.

"They had a good friendship and I think you could see them [coming together]," he said. "You know guys joke around a lot ‘Hey I would love to play with you, you make the game so easy’ and then I think they finally found out it could happen. They came up with a great game plan and they executed it. You have to give them credit for that."

To read more of Jason’s thoughts about the trio and what it means for the NBA, click here.

READY TO REGROUP
The 2009-2010 season had a harrowing end for the Dallas Mavericks, but given a chance to gain perspective, Jason is proud of the Mavs’ run to the No. 2 seed and the playoffs.

"The truth is I thought we had a team that was good enough to make a good run in the playoffs and contend for the championship," Jason told NBA.com’s Fran Blinebury. "Actually, I still feel that way now. I like our team. I like what (owner) Mark (Cuban) and (president and general manager) Donnie (Nelson) have done."

The Mavericks went into the playoffs hot, but were cut down in the first round by the San Antonio Spurs, ending their season, long before they hoped it would finish.

"We ran into a hot team at the wrong time," Kidd said. "They took most of the year to find themselves, but they really came together just when the playoffs started."

The Mavericks entered the 2010 offseason with one big goal: to resign free agent forward Dirk Nowitzki.

"Of course, the whole summer was all about Dirk," Kidd said. "I was hopeful and pretty confident that what he wanted all along was to come back and keep playing where he’s been his whole career and where we all still have goals. But when you become a free agent and you’re finally out there and you have a chance to better yourself, you do owe it to yourself to see the other possibilities. So nothing is ever certain. There are some things you just can’t foresee."

Nowitzki indeed returned on a new deal and the Mavs also resigned center Brendan Haywood and traded for another center, Tyson Chandler from the Charlotte Bobcats. Chandler, who is one of the 23 players in training camp with Team USA and the only Mavericks representative, is anxious to get to work with J-Kidd.

"I know he loves to reward his bigs," Chandler said. "I was joking with my cousin that all I’m going to do is rebound, give [Jason] the ball and run as fast as I can."

The Mavericks also sent Jason’s protégé Roddy Beaubois to the summer league to work on his point guard skills. Coach Rick Carlisle has hinted that the team could employ a Kidd-Beaubois backcourt more often this coming season, as Tim McMahon of ESPN Dallas writes:

The day after the Mavs’ season ended, Carlisle declared that Beaubois would play a much more prominent role. After working out Beaubois every morning last month, Carlisle is considering pairing him with future Hall of Fame point guard Jason Kidd as the Mavs’ starting backcourt.

"He’s a major part of next year," Carlisle said during his Thursday appearance on ESPN 103.3’s Galloway & Company. "There’s a very realistic chance that he could be one of our starters. I don’t think there’s any question about that."

KIDD ON THE LINKS
Jason competed last weekend in the American Century Golf Championship in Tahoe, Nevada and finished with a score of 4 in the three-day event, reports ESPN Dallas:

"Kidd posted a final score of 4, which landed him in 63rd place. Kidd was scoreless the first two days of the event but scored four points on day three to avoid going scoreless."

Jason told the Lahontan Valley News that his goal for the event is to one-day finish in Top 50.

"I just want to be in the top 50," he said. "I don’t hit a driver. I just hit a 3-wood because I can’t hit a driver. It can get you in a lot of trouble."

Still, Shane Battier told The Reno Gazette that Jason is one of the best golfers in the NBA.

"Ray [Allen] and Jason are among the premier NBA golfers right now," the Houston Rockets’ Shane Battier said. "I predict a basketball player will win the [American Century Championship] tournament before the U.S. wins a World Cup."

To see some photos from Jason’s rounds, courtesy of Golf Digest’s Matt Ginella, click here.

RELATED STORIES
Team USA’s cultural evolution heading into world championships (ESPN.com, July 20, 2010)
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&page=USA-100720
Jason Kidd on ESPN Radio Chicago (Sports Radio Interviews, July 19, 2010)
http://sportsradiointerviews.com/2010/07/19/jason-kidd-you-got-to-give-those-guys-credit-they-got-together-they-came-up-with-a-plan-they-executed-it-and-they-are-all-in-miami/
After eventful summer, Mavs’ Kidd ready for another shot (NBA.com, July 16, 2010)
http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/fran_blinebury/07/16/jason.kidd/
Jason Kidd will help mentor newer, younger Team USA (Dallas Morning News, July 18, 2010)
http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/07/jason-kidd-will-help-mentor-newer-younge.html
Mavs’ Beaubois hopes to take torch from Kidd (Las Vegas Review Journal, July 18, 2010)
http://www.lvrj.com/sports/mavs–beaubois-hopes-to-take-torch-from-kidd-98695759.html?ref=759
Carlisle considering Roddy B as a starter (ESPN Dallas, July 9, 2010)
http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mavericks/post/_/id/4669992/carlisle-considering-roddy-b-as-starter?campaign=rss&source=DALLASHeadlines
American Century Golf Championship getting better with age (Lahontan Valley News, July 13, 2010)
http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20100713/SPORTS/100719969/1055&ParentProfile=1045
Celebrity golf notebook: Allen hustles to shift gears ahead of Tahoe Trip (The Reno Gazette-Journal, July 16, 2010)
http://www.rgj.com/article/20100716/EVENTS07/7160397/1018/SPORTS