Jason Kidd retires after 19-year NBA career

• Jason Kidd retires after 19-year NBA career including 10 NBA All-Star Game appearances
• Kidd finished with averages of 12.6 points%2C 8.7 assists%2C 6.3 rebounds and 1.93 steals in 1%2C391 games
• Kidd won one NBA championship%2C two gold medals%2C two other Eastern Conference titles

Jason Kidd finally is ready to walk away, championship ring on his finger and spot in the record books well established.

The 19-year NBA point guard finished his career in the bright lights, just as he played it. Kidd announced his retirement Monday, with two years remaining on his contract with the New York Knicks. So ends a run featuring 10 All-Star Game appearances, three NBA Finals appearances and two Olympic gold medals.

"My time in professional basketball has been an incredible journey, but one that must come to an end after 19 years," Kidd said in a Knicks news release. "As I reflect on my time with the four teams I represented in the NBA, I look back fondly at every season and thank each every one of my teammates and coaches that joined me on the court."

Kidd, who finished with career averages of 12.6 points, 8.7 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 1.93 steals in 1,391 games, came into the NBA with a rare combination of speed, size and unmatched passing ability. Picked second by the Dallas Mavericks out of California, he was co-rookie of the year in 1994-95 with Grant Hill, who announced his own retirement Saturday.

Kidd's playing style was irresistible, and he finished with 12,091 assists and 2,684 steals, both second in NBA history. He's second to John Stockton all-time in both categories and third in three-pointers and turnovers.

That style, though, didn't always make him easy to play with. Kidd was a dominant force, and he and early Mavericks teammates Jamal Mashburn and Jim Jackson butted heads frequently. Bickering and injuries forced management's hands, and all three promising young players were traded during the 1996-97 season. For Kidd, that meant the Phoenix Suns, a fresh start that brought him to true stardom.

Kidd led the NBA in assists per game three times with the Suns, making three all-NBA first teams along the way. He improved his all-around game resolutely, averaging 6.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals a game with Phoenix. Kidd finished his career with 107 triple-doubles, third-most in NBA history.

He also played a key role in Team USA's 2000 Sydney Olympics gold medal run.

But by 2001, the Suns, too, had decided to move on, targeting a younger roster even if it meant trading an in-his-prime superstar. Kidd, 28, was dealt to the New Jersey Nets in a five-player deal sending 24-year-old point guard Stephon Marbury to Phoenix. The trade was lopsided, to say the least: Kidd far outplayed and far outlasted Marbury in the NBA.

And with the Nets, his star power took off. Kidd led New Jersey to the NBA Finals in each of his first two seasons, though they were swept in 2002 by the Los Angeles Lakers and lost 4-2 in 2003 to the San Antonio Spurs. He finished second to the Spurs' Tim Duncan in 2002 NBA MVP Award voting.

"Jason Kidd was the captain of the Nets during their most successful period in the NBA, and is considered the greatest player in the Nets' NBA history," Brooklyn Nets general manager Billy King said in a news release. "On behalf of the entire Brooklyn Nets organization, we congratulate him on his Hall of Fame career."

While Kidd's career was taking off, his marriage to Joumana Kidd was not. The couple divorced in 2007, and she accused him of harsh domestic violence. Kidd previously had gone to anger management counseling after pleading guilty to domestic abuse against Joumana in 2001. The couple has three children, but Jason Kidd has remarried.

The Nets traded Kidd in 2007. Perhaps more importantly, they traded the second half of a large contract they had given him. Kidd was dealt to the Mavericks, a return to his old stomping grounds with entirely new faces around him. He and Dirk Nowitzki quickly clicked, and Kidd showed flashes of three-point accuracy unlike what he had in his arsenal before.

The skill would do him well in his later years, as his quick first step faded. Kidd finished his career as a 34.9% shooter from beyond the arc, but he hit 37.8% from 2007-08 through 2012-13.

Kidd returned to Team USA for the 2008 Olympics, leading the "Redeem Team" to gold. His pass-first play made him the ideal point guard for a star-laden squad, and he finished his spectacular international career undefeated, winning two Olympic golds and titles at the FIBA Americas tournament in 1999, 2003 and 2007. Team USA did not win a major title (FIBA World Championship and those two) without him from 1999 through 2008.

In 2011, Kidd finally broke through with the Mavericks to win his first NBA championship. He averaged 9.3 points and 7.3 assists a game in the playoffs, playing a key part as Dallas beat the Miami Heat in six games.

His contract with the Mavericks expired after last season, and he finished his career with the New York Knicks last year, averaging 6.0 points, 3.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 76 games.

"Jason's value to the Knicks and the National Basketball Association cannot be quantified by statistics alone," Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald said. "Everyone here in New York saw firsthand what a tremendous competitor he is and why Jason is considered to be one of the best point guards, and leaders, the game has ever seen."

Contributing: The Associated Press