Jason Kidd's Olympic invincibility

LONDON (Olympics) - Jason Kidd visited the White House this week and ticked off another box in his star-studded career.

A player who entered the NBA in 1994 with the Dallas Mavericks, Kidd has been among the league's best point guards ever since.

Yet he wasn't able to celebrate a title until the end of his 17th season.

That long-awaited championship earned Kidd, and his teammates, a trip 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to hear congratulations from United States President Barack Obama.

And the long-time superstar Kidd, not surprisingly, was singled by Obama, albeit in the form of good-natured ribbing.

"Last season, they called themselves the "Bad News Bears," because from the very beginning, nobody gave them much of a chance," Obama announced to everyone at the White House ceremony.

"People said that Jason Kidd was too old. And I will say that this is the first time I've been with some world champions who are my contemporaries."

And with that, everyone laughed, including Kidd.

While he is just 37 and not 50 like Obama, the joke made the point that Kidd is an elder statesmen in basketball.

Kidd, once he retires, will be able to look back at his career and remember the title with the Mavs, the visit to the White House and the joking Obama.

There will be many, many other memories, too, including those special summers with the United States Olympic teams.

Twice Kidd has been able to climb to the top of the podium at Olympic Games.

He captured gold at Sydney 2000, and then helped the USA bounce back from a third-place finish in 2004 by playing a starring role in the gold-medal triumph in Beijing.

Twelve years ago, Kidd averaged six points, 4.4 assists and 5.2 rebounds in 20 minutes per game as the Americans won the title in Australia.

Kidd played 22 minutes in the famous Semi-Final against Lithuania that the United States barely won, 85-83.

After helping the Americans qualify for Beijing with a gold medal at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas, Kidd travelled to China and averaged 4.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds while scoring 1.8 points in 13.5 minutes.

He was a fantastic player for the USA in Beijing but most important was his ability to lead, and keep his teammates focused.

After the Semi-Final win over Argentina, which coach Mike Krzyzewski called Kidd's best game, the playmaker said: "I just got to keep calming these guys down because everybody's going to be on an emotional high.

"We have to figure out how to keep our composure and our energy level at an even keel until game time."

The United States needed to do that because against Spain, they had a real battle before winning, 118-107.

Even then, Kidd had to play the role of captain, telling his teammates about protocol when it came to receiving medals.

While the national anthem was played and the American flag was raised, Kidd said to his teammates: "Hands on hearts, guys, hands on hearts."

Not many basketball players win two Olympic gold medals, and Kidd, who never lost a game at an Olympics, pulled off the feat after missing Athens in 2004.

Does he look back at 2000 as the most important gold, or was 2008 sweeter?

After the triumph in Beijing, he said: "2000 was unbelievable, but this is the moment right now, and this is something I will cherish a long time."

FIBA