Like many of you, I was up late Saturday night / early Sunday AM watching the USA claim Olympic gold against a surprisingly physical, tenacious Spain. While marveling at the pseudo-Maravich-isms of Ricky Rubio and a revelatory exhibition from Portland’s Rudy Fernandez, I must admit, it never occurred to me that Jason Kidd would soon be reduced to gestures reminiscent of Elvis Presley’s final years ; ie. an aging superster giving away flashy trinkets in order to distract from a subpar performance. From The Las Vegas Review-Journal :
Jason Kidd promised Elaine Wynn, wife of casino mogul Steve Wynn, that he would give her his newest Olympic medal if the Americans fulfill the redeem dream.
“It’s not a (gambling) marker or anything like that,” Kidd told The Arizona Republic. “She’s just a great friend and a really great person.”
They met last year when Kidd and the USA team stayed at the Wynn while training in Las Vegas.
“Last summer, we stayed at the Wynn for (what seemed like) a lifetime, close to three weeks,” Kidd said. “We met at a banquet, we got to talking, and she really understands the game.
“I told her I’d make a deal with her, that if we won the gold medal, I’d give it to her. She thought I was kidding. But I told her I had one already, and the way they treated us at the Wynn, it was the least I could do.”
Sounds reasonable.
Ha. It’s obviously exactly what he says it’s not. He probably racked up a hell of a credit line staying at the casino and ,since he became friends with these people and already has a gold medal and knew they had a very real chance of winning, made a deal to take care of all that. I mean how much do you think a gajilionaire that owns this and that in VEGAS is gonna pay for a gold medal of a sport they really really love (that assumption is from Kidd saying she knows everything about the game). And they arent even really paying for it that way because of how much that casino pulls in a night it probably just canceled out however much Kidd borrowed (plus he probably lost it back). So Kidd probably pretty much got to gamble for 3 weeks with an uncapped figure…. for an Olympic Gold Medal. Ha! I mean if you think about it that would probably be pretty fun and he does already have one…..
Not sure why you guys are complicating this matter…Kidd no doubt beat this poor woman in a rage after significant gambling losses, and his gold medal was promised as her payoff for not squealing to the media.