St. Joseph's high school guard Jason Kidd drives to the basket in a 1992 North Coast Section championship game at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Kidd led his team to the California Division I state title in both 1991 and 1992, compiling an overall 63-6 record along the way. He was named California High School Player of the Year both seasons. Following his senior campaign, in which he averaged 25 points per game, 10 assists, seven rebounds and seven steals, Kidd was selected for the Naismith Award as America's most outstanding high school player. Parade Magazine and USA Today also selected him as national prep player of the year.

Kidd played two seasons at the University of California-Berkeley and was selected to the 1993-94 All-America team, following his sophomore season. Later that year, he was a first round draft choice of the Dallas Mavericks and left college to begin a stellar NBA career.

Through the 2001-2002 season, Kidd was selected to the All-NBA team five times and to the All-NBA Defensive team on three occasions. Kidd played for the Mavericks from 1994-95 through the 1996-97 season, before being traded to the Phoenix Suns. He played for the Suns until 2001, and then was traded to the New Jersey Nets. Kidd led the Nets to the 2002 NBA finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.

He has played in six NBA All-Star games as of 2003 and was a member of the 2000 Gold Medal USA Olympic team.

Kidd became one of the latest in a long line of nationally prominent basketball players from Oakland. Most, but not all, were African American.

Jim Pollard, a white student at Oakland Technical High School, was selected as a high school All-American in 1940 and a Helms Foundation college All-American at Stanford University in 1942. He led Stanford to the 1942 NCAA championship before beginning a professional career in which he played for four championship teams. He was a four-time NBA All-Star with the Minneapolis Lakers. Pollard was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1978.

Hall of Fame athlete Bill Russell, of McClymonds High School, the University of San Francisco, the U.S. Olympic team, and the Boston Celtics, is the subject of additional material on this website.

Paul Silas, another McClymonds graduate and the former coach of the NBA New Orleans Hornets, was a two-time NBA All-Star and won three NBA championships - two with the Celtics and one with the Seattle Supersonics - in a 16-year pro career.

Gary Payton, of Skyline High School, was a first team All-American at Oregon State in 1989-90 and was named Sports Illustrated's Player of the Year. He averaged 25.7 points, 8.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds in his final college season.

Payton was selected in the first round of the 1990 NBA draft by the Seattle Supersonics, the second player taken overall. He has played in nine All-Star games as of 2003 and has been an All-NBA first team pick twice and second team selection four times. Payton has been selected to the All-NBA defensive team eight consecutive seasons and was the 1995-96 defensive player of the year.

In February 2003, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Antonio Davis, yet another McClymonds graduate, is a member of the NBA's Toronto Raptors as of 2003 and played in the 2001 All-Star game.

Although professional basketball was the last of the three major sports to be integrated 79 percent of NBA players in 2003 are African American. Thirteen of the league's 29 head coaches are African Americans, compared with seven major league baseball managers and three NFL head coaches.

Standards: 11.8
Students analyze the economic boom and social transformation of post-World War II America.

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