Twenty-nine years after beginning his college education at the University of California-Berkeley, Jason Kidd now has a diploma to show for it.
Coach Kidd recently completed his final course requirements from the University of Phoenix to receive a degree in English. Officially, he is a Class of 2021 graduate.
“It’s in my office,” he said. “I have my diploma. It’s framed. It’s something that will be up there with the gold medals and the championship — to be able to get my degree.”
Jason began pursuing his degree back in 1992 at Cal, but after two phenomenal years on the court, decided to forego his final two years to enter the NBA Draft. It wasn’t until 27 years later, in 2019, when he was an assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers, that Jason decided to look into what it would take to get his degree. The Pro Basketball Hall of Famer’s motivation came from an unlikely source: future Pro Football Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald.
“I saw this commercial with Larry Fitzgerald a while back.,” Kidd said “It was for the University of Phoenix and it was talking about how he promised his mom he would get his degree, and I thought that was kind of incredible, and that kind of inspired me to want to get my degree also. I told Larry that when I saw that commercial that kind of gave me the thought that maybe I can do the same thing.”
Jason enrolled for online courses with the University of Phoenix while with the Lakers, noting how his duties as an assistant instead of a head coach allowed him some time to pursue the endeavor. When he was hired by the Mavs this summer, he made sure to finish up so that he could dive back into the grind of coaching full time, and with a diploma in his back pocket this time.
“I finally graduated, so I’m excited to have that diploma,” Kidd said. “It’s been a while, but school was fun.”