"In his moment of ultimate professional glory, after a lifetime of dedication, the man with all the basketball answers was uncharacteristically indecisive.

Always knowing precisely where the ball should go, who should get it and when it should arrive, Jason Kidd, newly crowned NBA champion, was utterly flummoxed.

The kid who grew up on East Bay basketball courts didn't know where to turn or what to do. He had no clue about protocol. His teammates had no idea, either, and for once, Kidd, the oldest and most accomplished among them, could not assist.

"(It was) surreal in the sense that we won a championship, and we really didn't know how to celebrate in the locker room," is the way Kidd describes it now, still digesting the evening his Dallas Mavericks ousted the Miami Heat in six games to win it all.

Kidd, 38, was exhausted. He wanted to relax. He bathed in Champagne. He hugged teammates and coaches and friends. Through it all, he was mentally replaying a quarter century of basketball.

He reflected on his youth, from the courts in and around Oakland, to St. Joseph High in Alameda, where he became a local celebrity and national star. His mind wandered back to Cal, where in two seasons he lifted a middling program to unprecedented visibility before declaring for the 1994 NBA draft after his sophomore year.

He thought about his mother, Anne, and his sisters, Denise and Kim. Thought about his five children, about former

Cal teammates such as Monty Buckley and childhood friends and teammates such as Andre Cornwell, whose name he often used when checking into hotels.

Most of all, Jason longed for the presence of his father, Steve, and his former coach at St. Joe's, Frank LaPorte, two influences who tried -- though not always successfully -- to keep young Jason in check.

Two men who with three words -- "You did it!" -- could dampen Kidd's eyes.

"It was like, 'Man, I wish Coach LaPorte was still around,' " Kidd says. "I know he was watching from above, but to be able to "... the last time I won something like this was in high school.

"And all the guys I played with, throughout high school to college and my NBA journey, this was the group that I finally won it with. I thought about all the guys that I played with that helped me play this long, but also had fun playing the game. There were a lot family members and friends that I thought about that I wish could have been here to see it in person."

With LaPorte on the bench and Kidd on the floor, St. Joe's won state titles in 1991 and '92. Player and coach remained close, even after Kidd went to Dallas as the No. 2 overall NBA draft pick in '94. LaPorte spent his final year battling pancreatic cancer before succumbing in 1997 at age 64."