KIDD LEAVES: 'I FELT MY JOB HERE AT CAL WAS ABOUT FINISHED.' By JOHN AKERS Mercury News Staff Writer BERKELEY -- On the day he turned 21, Jason Kidd outgrew the Cal Bears. Kidd made the anticipated announcement that he's skipping his final two seasons to enter the June 29 NBA draft during a three hanky news conference Wednesday before about 100 reporters and friends of Kidd. ''I felt my job here at Cal was about finished,'' the All America point guard said. ''I've done everything I can, poured my heart and soul into every game. I thought it was time to try something new and experience a whole new game of basketball, with the best players in the world.'' The event included cake, balloons, hugs and a lump in Kidd's throat when he got around to talking about leaving behind teammate and friend Monty Buckley and Coach Todd Bozeman. He pulled off his glasses, dried his eyes and asked Bozeman to speak. Bozeman, too, got choked up when he said Kidd's decision was ''like your younger brother moving on.'' ''He has my total blessing,'' Bozeman said. ''We've obviously thrown it (the NBA) around a lot. I think he's ready to accept the challenge of everything that's out there for him. He wouldn't be any more ready if he stays two more years.'' Kidd, expected to be the first or second player drafted, stands to demand a multiyear contract of about $50 million or more. But he said the decision wasn't about money, even though a proposed rookie salary cap could eliminate the huge paydays in the future. ''My parents can hold their own (financially),'' Kidd said. ''They've been doing it for 21 years. I knew they could survive another year or two. ''I didn't think too much about the salary cap. You get paid what you deserve to get paid. If they'd have had a salary cap this year, I'd still be confident and be coming out for the draft.'' ONGOING DISCUSSION Kidd said he discussed the NBA with Bozeman and his parents throughout the season, but there wasn't any one moment when his decision was made. It sunk in that he was leaving, he said, when the team returned from the NCAA sub regional in Ogden, Utah, on Friday and he began making arrangements for the news conference. His mother, Anne, was the first to be told, on Saturday. After the Bears' upset loss to Wisconsin Green Bay last Thursday, Kidd dropped strong hints that he'd stay. Those, he said Wednesday, were his honest emotions at the time. ''I really did not want my college career to end on that note,'' Kidd said. ''I'd promised my teammates we'd go to the Final Four. I felt I let us down, and that came into play. ''But we could have had injuries again next year. In the end, I had to think about myself and my family.'' DECISION IS FINAL Kidd said his decision is final, despite a new NCAA rule that allows players to return to their college team within 30 days after the draft. ''That doesn't favor me,'' he said. ''I'd be happy in any organization.'' Kidd will remain busy for the next couple of weeks. He plans to attend Magic Johnson's coaching debut Sunday with the Los Angeles Lakers the team of Kidd's dreams and attend the Final Four in Charlotte, N.C., next week. He also will make his formal application in writing to the NBA next week and decide on an agent. He would not reveal the three agencies he is considering, but longtime friend Bill Duffy is believed to be the front runner. Kidd said he plans to receive his degree at Cal and will take classes this summer. His plans of playing for the Bears' baseball team, however, have ended. WHAT ABOUT MURRAY? Now, all heads will turn toward All America forward Lamond Murray, if anyone can find him. His teammates said he hasn't been seen since the team returned from Utah, and Bozeman said he doesn't expect Murray, a junior, to reach a decision on the NBA for at least 10 days. ''He's not ready to make a decision,'' Bozeman said. ''When he comes to me and says, 'Coach, let's talk about it' like Jason did we will.'' The next Cal point guard could be K.J. Roberts, a former starter, or Anwar McQueen, a freshman who backed up Kidd. Or it could be a player being recruited by the Bears, such as Jelani Gardner of St. John Bosco High in Bellflower or Raimonds Miglinieks of Riverside Community College. Bozeman vowed that Cal's running and pressing style won't end with Kidd's absence. McQueen said he benefited from been around Kidd. McQueen recalled missing an open layup at Arizona, only to be told by Kidd to forget about it. ''That meant a lot,'' McQueen said. ''It meant he had not given up on me. It was not a basketball assist, but it was an assist of another kind.'' COMMENTARY: IT'S TIME FOR KIDD TO GET ON WITH HIS NBA DREAM. BERKELEY INDULGE IN a little fantasy. It's next November in Los Angeles. Coach Magic Johnson is shouting instructions from the bench to his point guard. Jason Kidd takes the outlet pass, goes right and dishes left to a waiting, revitalized James Worthy. Showtime reborn. On the occasion of his 21st birthday, even Kidd allowed himself the pleasure of that daydream. ''Being under Coach Johnson would be a great experience,'' Kidd said Wednesday, already using the title with familiarity. ''It would be something special to be under a Hall of Famer like that.'' There are a lot of fans and general managers in cities from Boston to Charlotte to Los Angeles that will be partaking in Kidd inspired fantasies in the coming weeks. And that's why anyone who thinks Kidd made the wrong decision is out of their mind. If you're 21 and have a fully blossomed talent, one that can electrify a crowd of thousands, then you have to use it. Now. Kidd has it. And the coincidence of Wednesday, that on the day Kidd had already decided he would announce his decision to turn professional, another news conference was being held 500 miles south . . . that on the day of Kidd's rite of passage another point guard who left school after just two years and went on to become a legend took another step himself. . . . Well, only the most hard boiled cynics couldn't enjoy speculating on the twists of fate. For those of us accustomed to watching Kidd, the basketball player, run his show in Harmon Arena or at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, Wednesday was an opportunity to watch Kidd, the man, run his show. And he was impressive. He appeared at 3:01 p.m., dressed in a beige suit, with a rust patterned tie and matching handkerchief, wearing wire rimmed glasses. Before a room crammed with reporters, family, teammates and Cal athletic officials, and before a live radio audience, Kidd handled the moment with grace and emotion and maturity. He thanked everyone for coming and introduced ''the most important people in my life'' his mother, Anne, father, Steve, and his two little sisters, Denise and Kim, as well as several friends. He cut to the chase, announcing his decision to enter the NBA draft, and then thanked the university, the chancellor, his academic adviser and Coach Todd Bozeman. And then he thanked his teammates. ''I'm going to miss them a lot,'' Kidd said. ''Monty Buckley is a close friend of mine . . .'' Then Kidd was so overwhelmed he had to stop and let his coach take over for a few minutes, before returning to the microphones to answer questions. ''We're not at the tournament anymore,'' he said to Bozeman, ''so I can cry as much as I want to.'' And after Kidd finished with the formal, sit down part of the news conference, he stayed and answered question after question. At about 4:45, he walked out of Memorial Stadium his family and a bouquet of balloons in tow on his way to a birthday dinner. ''I felt that my job here at Cal, of being a basketball player, was about done,'' Kidd said as his reason for leaving. And he's right. Certainly having a multimillion dollar contract might tip the scales, but Kidd gave everything he had. Yes, he fell short of his desire to make the Final Four, but sport is fickle and Kidd's chances of injuring himself next season was probably as good as they were of getting to the championship game. Besides, we knew he was on loan from the moment he arrived. His talents were too big to be contained in college. Kidd fielded a lot of questions on Wednesday about how he reached his big decision. But this choice may be easier than the one he made 30 months ago, when he decided to come to Cal. He was heavily criticized for passing up schools like Kentucky and Kansas and occasionally second guessed himself about his decision to stay at home. But, on Wednesday, he had no regrets. ''The excitement this university brings every day,'' Kidd said, naming what Cal had given him. ''You never know what you're going to encounter, so you want to get up every day and see what's out there.'' And in exchange for a window on the bigger world, Kidd gave Cal a foothold in the basketball world. ''He put the program back on the map,'' Bozeman said. ''When you think of Georgetown, you think of Patrick Ewing. Navy, David Robinson. . . . Cal, Jason Kidd.'' Kidd gave Cal everything he had, every game. Even on his occasional off nights he wrung himself dry. Through tumultuous times, he handled himself with grace. And he gave Cal athletics a glamour it had lacked in years. Cal changed with Kidd. And Kidd changed with Cal. ''Two years ago, he was a kid,'' his mother said. ''And today he is a man.'' It was a fair exchange. Off to a future of fantasy. JASON KIDD COMES OF AGE, BIDS FAREWELL TO CAL 3/23/94 By DON BOSLEY McClatchy News Service BERKELEY, Calif. On his 21st birthday, Jason Kidd turned businessman. Sweats, sneakers and baseball cap gave way to suit, tie and scholarly glasses. A student's life gave way to a millionaire's. It was the easiest, most natural transition anyone could have imagined, save for a few tears spilt on the lapel. After a riveting 19 month stay at the University of California, Kidd glanced at his personal timetable Wednesday, put on a clean shirt and threw himself into the NBA's open arms. A swelling throng of media and well wishers filled Cal's Hall of Fame Room to hear the announcement that had been expected for, oh, about 19 months. Cal's All American point guard will forgo his final two years of college eligibility and make himself available for the NBA draft this June, and there were credible assurances that teammate Lamond Murray is not far behind. ''My job here at Cal, being a basketball player and a student, is about done,'' Kidd said. ''I've put my heart and soul into helping Cal win some basketball games. But I think it's time for me to try something new.'' Kidd is expected to go somewhere among the top four picks in the draft, most likely in the No. 2 slot behind Purdue's Glenn Robinson. Wednesday, he warmed to the idea of landing with the Los Angeles Lakers especially now that his idol, Magic Johnson, is the Lakers' coach. ''I can imagine him yelling at me, telling me he made that pass in the world championship game against Houston in 1981 and then benching me,'' Kidd said. Kidd's early departure has been anticipated ever since Todd Bozeman, then a Bears assistant coach, recruited him out of St. Joseph's High School in Alameda, Calif. Even so, both Kidd and Bozeman, now the head coach, were overcome with emotion Wednesday. ''I'd like to thank my teammates, a lot,'' said Kidd, choking back tears. ''Monty Buckley ... was a very close friend of mine. And Coach Bozeman ... who I love a lot.'' Bozeman convinced Kidd to spurn the likes of Kansas and Kentucky and sign with the forlorn Bears out of high school. Their two season ride together has bridged two NCAA Tournament trips, one run to the Sweet 16, and the messy Lou Campanelli firing that cast a suspicious light on them both. ''We've been through an awful lot together,'' Bozeman said. ''No one will ever know how much we went through. ''The part of him I'm going to miss most is him the person, not the basketball player.'' Of course, he wouldn't mind having the basketball player back. A consensus All American and the Pac 10 Player of the Year in 1993 94, Kidd led the nation in assists at 9.1 per game and set a Pac 10 season assist record with 272. At 6 foot 4 and 205 pounds, Kidd also had four triple doubles this season; the Pac 10 has seen only four other triple doubles in its history, with no other player getting more than one. In two seasons, he set a Cal career record for steals with 204. In 59 career games, Kidd averaged 14.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 8.4 assists and 3.5 steals per outing. About the only thing Kidd didn't do was make good on his promise to deliver Cal a Final Four appearance. Poised to do exactly that, he and the Bears were stunned in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last week by Wisconsin Green Bay. Kidd insinuated after that game that the media might be wrongly assuming his imminent departure for the NBA. Wednesday, however, he chalked those comments up to the emotion of the moment. ''At that time, I did want to stay,'' Kidd said. ''I didn't want to end my college career on that note.'' Buckley, the junior forward from Sacramento, was Kidd's closest friend on the team and another big reason Kidd decided to attend Cal in the first place. ''I knew this was going to happen, so I've had time to think about it,'' Buckley said. ''We've talked a lot about it. I think I've seen Jason really grow up in the time he's been here.'' Buckley and point guard Anwar McQueen said they expected Murray, the Pac 10's leading scorer at 24.5 points a game, to also pass up his final year of eligibility and declare himself for the draft. Most NBA scouts speculate that Murray, a 6-7 guard/forward, would go somewhere in the Top 15.