The sudden death of Kobe Bryant, along with his daughter Gianna and seven others last year, many of them AAU players and parents, left a void in the sports world. That void extended beyond the NBA throughout the world of sports, where Bryant had been using his platform to bring positive attention and promote growth in women’s athletics, particularly basketball, at the youth level.
Jason Kidd recently told Marc Spears of The Undefeated that Bryant’s commitment to that cause, along with his untimely death, was a motivator for him to get involved in youth sports in his own way. Last offseason Jason formed the Jason Kidd Select AAU program, which has boys and girls teams, based in the Bay Area, where Jason is from. In particular, the girls, an elite 17u-15u program, have been on the rise, seeing many of their top players receive college scholarship offers from Division I programs.
“In tragedy, sometimes there can be light. And, unfortunately with Kobe Bryant’s passing, I thought about what he did for women, not just for his daughter, but he brought the light onto women’s sports and the importance. And I was just in awe. This is such a great thing that he was doing. And unfortunately with the passing, who’s going to continue to keep that light on there? I’m not saying I can bring a bigger light, but I want to make sure that light stays on there. And so the idea of having a young ladies basketball program was done. We got it in the Bay Area. It’s taken off.”
Jason also pointed to his involvement in youth sports as a self-motivator to finally check something off his personal bucket list: finishing his bachelor’s degree.
“I can’t tell my kids how important education is if they say, ‘Well, you didn’t graduate.’ So that checks that box,” he said. “I talk about the importance of education not only for my kids, but also to the youth that I’m involved with. So to be able to say that in August is a big accomplishment, for my kids, but also for the kids that I’m involved with. Now I can say with confidence that education is important. I got my degree. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. That’s got to be right there with the Olympic medals and the championship.”
Additionally, J-Kidd has his eye on other endeavors involving youth sports in the Bay Area neighborhoods he once called home.
“One of the ideas I have is I’m going to talk with a couple of people in Oakland about doing a school. I talked to LeBron about his I Promise School and understanding the blueprint of someone doing it, and having success. ‘Walk me through it.’ The idea is to name it, and I haven’t talked to them yet … Bill Russell Academy. Keep it a public school, because I don’t think the story of Bill Russell has been told to our family in Oakland. That’s one of the ideas, is to be able to give some light to Bill Russell, and appreciation of what he’s done for all of us. If we can go to the city to get a street changed to his name, and then also dedicate his philosophy of life to the school, I think it’s a win-win. He’s an icon. He’s not just a basketball star, but his story has to be told.”
For more about Jason’s plans for the future, read the full article at The Undefeated.