Home court advantage in the Western Conference Finals may belong to the Warriors, but Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd will feel right at home all series.
For Kidd, the series is a homecoming of sorts. The Hall of Famer never played for the Warriors during his 19-year NBA career, but as a native of Oakland, Kidd made a name for himself during his formative years as a prep standout and as a collegiate superstar in the Bay Area.
As someone that's from The Town, a place named after its sprawling oak trees, the roots run deep for Kidd.
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Jason Kidd's Bay Area roots
Born in San Francisco in 1973, Kidd was raised in nearby Oakland.
While the Warriors franchise moved to the Bay Area in 1962, they played in various parts of the area before becoming full-time tenants of the then-Oakland-Alameda Coliseum (formerly Oracle Arena) in 1971.
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A mere four miles away from the coliseum stands Alameda's St. Joseph Notre Dame High School, the place where Kidd would become a two-time California Player of the Year, a McDonald's All-American and one of the most heralded prospects in the 1992 recruiting class.
With an opportunity to attend essentially any of the nation's top programs, Kidd elected to attend the nearby University of California, Berkeley, which sits less than 10 miles away from his high school.
Prior to Kidd's arrival in 1992, Cal had made just one NCAA Tournament appearance since 1960. With averages of 13.0 points, 7.7 assists and an NCAA-leading 3.8 steals per game, Kidd capped his freshman season by leading the Golden Bears to the Sweet Sixteen.
As a sophomore, Kidd averaged 16.7 points per game to go along with 9.1 assists, which led the entire country. Cal again made the NCAA Tournament but after a loss in the opening round, Kidd opted to move on to the NBA.
Things now come full circle for Kidd, who was drafted second overall by the Mavericks in the 1994 NBA Draft, causing him to move from The Bay to Dallas.
Some 28 years later, Kidd will be going back and forth between the two areas as he looks to reach his first-ever NBA Finals as a head coach.
Ties to Gary Payton
When Kidd was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018, he was presented by Gary Payton, another prolific 6-foot-4 point guard from Oakland.
Payton, who is five years older than Kidd, stood as a mentor-like figure as Kidd made his way up the ranks. They stand as two of the greatest players to ever come out of Oakland, paving the way for a third in Damian Lillard.
The relationship between the two adds yet another full-circle dynamic to the series as Payton's son, Gary Payton II, has carved a key role with the Warriors, though he remains sidelined with an elbow injury suffered in the Western Conference Semifinals.
