Jason Kidd

The ball was already headed somewhere before you realized Jason Kidd had seen the opening. Nets No. 5 played basketball like everyone else was half a second behind, pushing the break, throwing ridiculous passes, rebounding with guards and turning New Jersey into a back-to-back Finals team. Kidd’s argument isn’t about overwhelming scoring or KG-level chaos. It’s about control. He could take over a game without needing to take every shot, and that makes him a completely different kind of No. 5. Put him against Kevin Garnett and you get composure versus fury. Put him against Franz Beckenbauer and things get even more interesting: two players who could seemingly see the whole game at once. Kidd may not have the biggest championship résumé in this field, but few contenders made their teammates look better so consistently. Is that enough to beat the louder legends wearing the same number?