Fun fact most don’t know about Jason Kidd: One of the NBA’s 75 Greatest Players began his sporting life on the pitch.
Before being elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Before winning the 2011 NBA title. Before the 10 All-Star appearances. Before his days as an NCAA superstar for Cal Berkeley. Before falling in love with basketball as a youth. Before flag football at Rainbow Recreation Center in East Oakland. Kidd was a soccer star.
And contrary to his career as a prolific passer and assist man, he was a scorer in his soccer days.
“I was the opposite of who I was as a basketball player,” Kidd said. “I was a kick-it-to-me-and-I’ll-go-score type of player.”
And now he’s part owner of a soccer franchise. Kidd is the latest Bay Area celebrity to become part owner of the Oakland Roots and Soul Sports Club — Oakland’s lone committed pro franchise.
Kidd joins an existing group of investors that include Marshawn Lynch, the first star aboard in 2021, followed by multiplatinum rapper G-Eazy in 2022, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Josh Johnson, Green Day lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong last month and WNBA legend Ruthie Bolton.
The ownership group of the Oakland Roots men’s soccer team and Oakland Soul women’s pro team added more than 4,500 new members since…
