After 19 seasons Jason Kidd finally called it a career and announced his retirement, following in the footsteps of 1995 co rookie of the year Grant Hill.  After a career riddled with injuries, Grant announced his retirement over the weekend, moments before the tip-off of the eastern conference game.

In His first 6 seasons in the NBA Grant was an unstoppable force while playing for the Detroit Pistons. By his late 20′s ankle injuries affected his play and we saw Hill leave the Pistons and join the Magic and Suns but he wasn’t the same player we saw on the Pistons. We saw flashes of greatness here and there but the potential to be one of the greats were all gone.

Jason Kidd on the other hand had a steady career appearing in 3 NBA finals, 2 with the Nets and winning it all with the Mav’s in 2011.  Becoming a 10 time NBA All Star while playing for the Suns, Mavericks and Nets, and was also selected as the #2 draft pick in 1994 one ahead of Grant Hill. Kidd also added 2 Olympic medals to his trophy case appearing on the 2000 and 2008 USA teams. He’s #2 on the assists list and #3 on the 3 pointers made all time list. It’s almost amazing that Kidd is that high on the list 3 pointers made, since the scouting report suggested when he came out of college that he really didn’t have a jump shot. And the report proven to be true in his first few years in the NBA as players and teammates would call him Ason because he didn’t have a J.

The announcement of both Kidd and Hill will forever link the players for entering the NBA 2 decades ago and retiring days apart. Lets take a look at some of their career highlights and some of their best plays.