Jason Kidd Q&A: Going for Gold

The summer hasn’t been half bad. A trip to Disney World with the kids. Plenty of golf, including a turn in that celebrity tourney at Lake Tahoe. (He couldn’t help but admire the links prowess of the other Dallas quarterback, Tony Romo, and finished 56th out of 85.) He’s done his share of traveling, while making time to relax along the way.

But the offseason for Jason Kidd never steers completely clear of basketball. This one just happens to be bigger than most. The All-Star left Sunday for Las Vegas to resume preparation with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and the rest of USA Basketball men’s national team for the upcoming Olympics in Beijing.

Kidd is the starting point guard for Team USA, a once proud international dynasty that hasn’t won a gold medal since 2000. The Americans haven’t finished first in the last three major competitions – the 2002 and ’06 World Championships, and the ’04 Olympics.

Kidd represents a link to the team’s glorious past. He’s 44-0 with USA across his chest, and helped captain the last gold medalist in Sydney eight years ago. Kidd, 35, isn’t interested in smudging his legacy now.

“I’m taking this very seriously,” he said recently. “We all are.”

Read all of this exclusive Q&A with Kidd at mavs.com.