Thirty Years Later: Jason Kidd Relives Cal's Amazing Run to the 1993 Sweet 16

`It was electric,' Kidd says of the experience that included beating champion Duke.

Jason Kidd was still a kid in 1993. He was a 19-year-old freshman at Cal and everything was new.

Especially the NCAA tournament.

“It was electric,” the Hall of Fame point guard told me this week, looking back at his memorable run to the Sweet 16 with a young Cal team. “It was exciting. It was college. I can’t believe it’s been 30 years. It’s incredible how fast time has gone.”

Yes, this is the 30th anniversary of something special in the annals of Cal hoops. Kidd and his teammates trekked to the Rosemont Horizon just outside Chicago and wrote their own chapter to the madness that is basketball in March.

“Anytime you watch it on TV, you want to make it to the Final Four and play for a national championship,” said Kidd, now in his second season as coach of the Dallas Mavericks and ready to turn 50 years old next week. “Just the excitement of buzzer beaters, being able to to help your team. You saw a lot of that in the tournament. You saw upsets.

“So when we got to the tournament we were excited about having that opportunity to be able to showcase our talent.”

The Mavs' schedule prevented Kidd from attending the recent team reunion / Cal basketball

Kidd and sophomore Lamond Murray did the heavy lifting for a roster whose primary rotation of nine players included five sophomores and three freshmen. The lone exception: senior forward Brian Hendrick, the team’s tough and steady elder statesman.

The Bears were coached by sometimes combative 29-year-old Todd Bozeman, who took the reins at midseason following essentially a player coup against Lou Campanelli. Bozeman probably was in over his head but he gave players the freedom to relax and thrive, and the Bears won nine of 10 games entering the NCAA tournament.

The Bears opened against LSU and escaped with a 66-64 victory when Kidd contorted himself and slithered between defenders to make what LSU coach Dale Brown called a “pretzel shot.”

The stage was definitely not too big for the Bears. Kidd, a freshman All-American, had 16 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, five steals and just one turnover in 34 minutes. Murray provided 23 points and 10 rebounds.

In a brief detour, it’s worth noting that another Bay Area freshman point guard with a big-time future introduced himself to the national audience on that same night — March 18, 1993. Steve Nash made six straight free throws down the stretch and Santa Clara toppled Arizona 64-61, second-ever No. 15 seed to beat a No. 2.

Kidd and Nash — and former Cal star Kevin Johnson — were briefly teammates with the Phoenix Suns and 25 years after their NCAA tourney debuts, in 2018, Kidd and Nash entered the Naismith Hall of Fame together. Also part of that class — former Duke star Grant Hill, whom Kidd would face two nights after LSU.

Most folks were impressed by Cal’s performance against the Tigers. Brown, not so much.

“I don’t think they’ve got a prayer in the world of beating Duke,” Brown told reporters in his postgame news conference. It was not an outrageous thought, given that the Blue Devils were two-time reigning national champs and had won their opener against Southern Illinois by 35 points.

But Brown’s words startled the Bears, adding a bit of fuel to their engine.

“His comments were surprising because we just beat them, and he was talking about we didn’t have a chance. It motivated us for sure,” Kidd said. ‘For us to sit there and listen to him say that . . . (it) was disrespectful.

“I think it was already set in motion when we saw the bracket and felt we could compete with Duke.”

The bracket showed Kidd and his teammates they had a chance for a second-round game against a Blue Devils team that had won 13 consecutive NCAA tournament games.

“To be in the same bracket with the champs, Duke . . . but I think we truly believed we could compete with them," Kidd said. "We weren’t nervous or scared. You could see as the game started we weren’t going to back down.

“You want the best. You want to see where your skillset as a team (compares), and we had that against the champs. That’s what makes March Madness exciting because there’s always the opportunity that the underdog can win.”

Kidd lands Cal on the cover of SI / Sports Illustrated

Cal jumped out to an 18-point lead against Duke, powered by Kidd (11 points, 14 assists, eight rebounds and four steals) and Murray (28 points, 10 rebounds). Freshman guard Jerod Haase, now the coach at Stanford, shot 3 for 4 from the 3-point arc and scored 13 points and Hendrick had eight points and 12 rebounds.

But Duke didn’t go quietly. All-America senior point guard Bobby Hurley scored a career-high 32 points to go with nine assists, and Hill had 18 points, seven rebounds and eight steals.

The Blue Devils came all the way back to lead 77-76 with 2:21 left before Kidd delivered another magical play. He drove the baseline and, after being blocked by the Duke defense, tried passing to Murray in the right corner. Hurley deflected the ball and, after a scramble, Kidd corralled it, scored and made the ensuing free throw for a 79-77 lead.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Kidd’s play turned the game back in Cal’s direction. “It gave them emotion again,” he said afterward. “I think they needed a play like that at that point. It’s one of those plays that kids like him will make.”

The Bears’ postseason run ended with a loss to Kansas in the Sweet 16, but his final days as teen-ager in Chicago remain a vivid chapter in Kidd’s basketball history, even after winning and NBA title and two Olympic gold medals.

“Oh, it’s very, very special because that’s the beginning of my journey on a national stage,” he said. “To be able to win at the Rosemont — every time I go to Chicago, it’s always good memories there.”

Cover photo of Jason Kidd and Bobby Hurley by Sports Illustrated

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo