Kidd was born in San Francisco, and raised in an upper middle class section of Oakland. His father, Steve, was African-American, and his mother, Anne, is Irish-American. As a youth, Kidd was highly scouted for AAU teams and tourneys, garnering various all-star and MVP awards. He attended the East Oakland Youth Development Center and frequented the city courts of Oakland, where he often found himself pitted against future NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton.

On July 1, 2014, the Milwaukee Bucks secured Kidd's coaching rights from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for two second-round draft picks in 2015 and 2019. The move did not come without controversy, as it was reported that Kidd had been seeking more management power over the Nets' general manager Billy King and after being denied began talks with the Bucks even though they still had a coach under contract in Larry Drew. He later stated that he felt the Nets truly did not want him nor were they committed to building a contender. In his return to Brooklyn on November 19, 2014, he was greeted with heavy boos and jeers.  The Bucks were one of the biggest surprises of the 2014-15 season. Under Kidd's guidance the young team improved from franchise-worst 15 wins in the previous season, finishing with a 41-41 record to advance to the playoffs as the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee achieved that feat despite losing their 2nd draft pick overall Jabari Parker in December to a knee injury and trading star guard Brandon Knight to the Phoenix Suns in February. Kidd is the first coach in NBA history to lead two franchises to the playoffs in his first two years as a head coach. Kidd finished third in voting for the Coach of the Year Award behind Mike Budenholzer and Steve Kerr.  The 2015-16 season was less successful for Kidd, as the Bucks finished with a 33-49 record and did not qualify to the playoffs. On December 20, 2015 it was reported that Kidd would be out indefinitely as he would undergo hip surgery on December 21. While Kidd was recovering, his assistant Joe Prunty was acting as an interim coach. On a positive note, Kidd moved rising 21-year old Giannis Antetokounmpo into a point guard position, which helped the young player to record five triple doubles in the season and make progress in most statistical categories. Despite the disappointing season, the Bucks owners issued Kidd a vote of confidence and mentioned a possible prolongation of his contract expiring after the next season.  The following season Kidd led the Bucks to a winning record as they qualified to the playoffs for the second time in three years. Kidd had his projected starting unit available for just several minutes during the season. On February 9, the same day the shooting guard Khris Middleton was making his season debut after recovering from a hamstring injury, the power forward Jabari Parker went down with an ACL injury. Despite the setback, Kidd had the Bucks finishing the season strong with a 42-40 record. In the first round of the playoffs against the Toronto Raptors, the Bucks took a 2-1 lead after game 3, but went on to lose the series in six games. On January 22, 2018, the Bucks fired Kidd after the team posted a 23-22 record midway through the 2017-18 season.

What records did Jason Kidd set on the Milwaukee Bucks?
41-41