Basketball IQ is a term generally used to measure a basketball player’s knowledge of the game.

In the NBA, it’s hard to find a player with a higher B-Ball IQ than Jason Kidd.

J-Kidd knows that it takes more than skill to make a great basketball player. He is usually at the top of most basketball IQ lists, so The Dallas Morning News asked J-Kidd his thoughts on what makes for a high IQ and who has the highest in the league.

According to No. 2, basketball IQ is innate, but sometimes it takes a little more time to come out than others:

"I believe you are probably born with it, or at least born with the potential for it. For me, however it got there, I’m glad I’m getting the chance to let it come out. It’s an interesting thing to think about.”

Jason went on to add that growing up and playing soccer throughout his youth helped him form his basketball IQ:

"Soccer gave me vision. I learned to see the whole field, and the more you can see the whole soccer field, as big as it is, you can pretty easily see a whole basketball court. Also, for me, I started playing basketball against older guys (including future NBA players Gary Payton, Greg Foster and Antonio Davis as well as members of the Golden State Warriors). That was probably … osmosis. I soaked everything in."

J-Kidd picked Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Chris Paul as the players with the highest basketball IQ. It’s no surprise that Nash made Jason’s list. J-Kidd and Nash learned a lot from each other when they shared the court.

"Stevie is just an old-fashioned gym rat. Going all the way back (Nash was a backup-backup point guard to Kidd when both were in Phoenix in the late 90’s) you just give him a ball and he wants to kick it, throw it, shoot it, whatever. Probably with a puck, too! I think he still probably gets into a pickup game at the gym or in the park not just to play, but to try to get better. I also think he goes into a pickup game and tries to win, of course. But he’s always trying to get better. He’s become relentless about it. And I think one of the things that keeps Stevie going is that in every NBA game he plays, he’s trying to win, and learn, and get better.”

J-Kidd chose Kobe Bryant because of his undying passion for the game. Incidentally, Kobe also grew up playing and watching soccer in Europe:

"He gets all the credit for being such a natural and graceful athlete. But I bet even if he wasn’t a great natural athlete, such a superior natural athlete with such an advantage, I bet he’d still be in the NBA. He’d still probably even be an All-Star. Kobe lives it. He lives basketball. I believe it’s about all he thinks about, really. His dad was a pro and so he grew up with it. So it’s – what did you call it? – ‘nature and nurture.’ Yeah. Kobe is the best combination of nature and nurture.”

No. 2 jokingly called LeBron James a "physical freak" and said his impulses are just as unnatural as his skills.

"He’s a physical freak, obviously. But his basketball mind and his instincts are also pretty freaky. Remember the playoff series when he supposedly ‘passed’ on the drive to instead kick out to Donyell Marshall for the 3? And people accused LeBron of not wanting to take the big shot? Ridiculous! That was absolutely the right decision for the circumstance. That was absolutely the right, smart play. Donyell had just killed us (Kidd’s Nets team) with the 3. The play, the decision, the timing, it was all perfect. Everybody else didn’t know it but LeBron knew it.”

Finally he chose Chris Paul, who many believe is grabbing the torch from Jason as the league’s top point guard, because of his ability to always be thinking two steps ahead of everyone else.

"Chris Paul is moving faster than most of the rest of guys can even think. So he’s always two steps ahead. When you play against Chris, you really need to anticipate where he is going and what he might be thinking. You have to study it, and go deeper than just anticipate his movement; you have to anticipate his thought process. You have to ask yourself, ‘What is he thinking of doing?’

What’s amazing about him is that even at his young age, he is in complete control of the game. And what is even more amazing is that that’s been the case when he was a rookie, from the first day he was in the league.”

Of the four players that J-Kidd picked, three of them, LeBron, Kobe and CP3 spent the summer of ’08 with Jason in Beijing where they led Team USA Basketball to the 2008 Olympic gold medal. Nash, of course, was not a part of Team USA, because the Phoenix point guard is Canadian. Still the "Redeem Team, as they were called, probably had the highest Basketball IQ on the planet.

BURNING THE SUNS
J-Kidd proved his basketball IQ is higher than most in last night’s 102-101 win over Nash and the Phoenix Suns.

No. 2 dished out 11 assists, tallied seven points, secured six rebounds and added a steal.

Though he only managed seven points, three of those came from a 20-foot jumper with 26 seconds remaining in the game to help the Mavericks to victory. Just another instance of Jason taking the right shot at the right time.

J-Kidd and the rest of the Mavericks welcomed back teammate Josh Howard who had missed the past 13 games due to an ankle injury. No. 2 said Josh looked better than ever in his return, as he told Pegasus News:

"Josh played great. You know, 20 points is much needed for our offense. I thought he played great defensively, too, so it’s good to have No. 5 back."

Although Howard exploded on offense, J-Kidd is pleased with the defense the entire team has been playing as well

"We’re making it a little bit tougher than we need, but the one thing that’s consistent right now is we’re playing defense. If we weren’t playing defense, we wouldn’t have a chance to win."

NEXT UP
J-Kidd and the Mavericks head to Miami to face the Heat Friday night at 6:30 CST on Fox Sports Network.

RELATED STORIES
Exclusive: Jason Kidd’s top 4 BBIQ NBA players (DallasBasketball.com, Dec. 9, 2009)
http://www.dallasbasketball.com/fullColumn.php?id=2318
Dallas Mavericks 102, Phoenix Suns 101 (PegasusNews.com, Dec. 9, 2009)
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2009/dec/09/dallas-mavericks-102-phoenix-suns-101/
Suns at Mavericks Boxscore (NBA.com, Dec. 9, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20091208/PHXDAL/gameinfo.html#nbaGIboxscore