Aug. 24, 2008

BEIJING - Former California star Jason Kidd won his second Olympic gold medal as the U.S. men's basketball team held off Spain, 118-107, in the Sunday final at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and gave the Golden Bears a school-record 17 medals from Beijing. The U.S. captain, the final Bear competing at the Olympics, scored two points and grabbed a rebound against Spain at the Olympic Basketball Arena.

Cal's previous record medal haul from the Olympics was 16 set four years ago in Athens.

A veteran of the 2000 Sydney Games, Kidd completed the Beijing Olympics with 13 points, on 6-of-7 shooting, 16 assists and 21 rebounds. He ran his personal record to 56-0 in international action and became the 13th U.S. player with multiple Olympic gold medals. The elder statesman of the U.S. team at age 35, Kidd was named the 2007 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year.

Spain earned the silver medal after rebounding from a 37-point loss to the United States in pool play on Aug. 16 to play a much better game in the final.

An All-American point guard at Cal from 1993-94, Kidd had a tremendous impact on the Cal program during his two seasons in Berkeley. He was voted National Freshman of the Year in 1993 after leading the country in steals with 110 and guiding the Bears to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. As a sophomore, Kidd was voted Pac-10 Player of the Year and a first-team Associated Press All-American when he dished out a national-best 272 assists (9.1 apg) and recorded four triple doubles. He set a school record with 18 assists at Stanford in 1994 and established a Cal mark with eight steals vs. Washington in 1993. His career total of 204 steals is also a school record.

Overall, Kidd averaged 14.9 ppg and 8.4 apg as a collegian. He declared for the NBA Draft in 1994, was a taken with the second overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks and was voted Co-Rookie of the Year with Grant Hill in 1995. Over his professional career, Kidd has been named a starter in the All-Star game four times and he is a four-time first-team All-Defensive performer. This marks Kidd's second appearance on the U.S. Olympic team after serving as a tri-captain at the Sydney Games in 2000, when he also led Team USA to a gold medal.