Jason Kidd Foolishly Thinks His Head Cold Will Not Be a Big Story

Jason Kidd has a head cold.

We could pretty much leave it at that, but where's the fun then? Kidd missed practice Wednesday (all days here are Beijing time. I don't have my abacus on me to do the calculations, okay?), and said he felt "terrible" when he showed up for Team USA's media availability on Thursday night. He's not expected to miss the Olympic Basketball opener on Sunday.

Of course, Kidd's trying to not make it into a huge deal.

"I just came here because I didn't want this to become a big story," he said, adding that despite fighting the cold for three days he will be fine for Sunday's opener against China. "The rim is still 10, the ball is still round, so I didn't have to go see another gym. And I don't shoot that much, anyway."

The fact that Kidd thinks anything about Team USA's experience in Beijing will not be a big deal is a little naive, don't you think? This isn't just the Finals, it's the Olympics, and a comparatively big one at that. Still, you have to feel bad for a guy that's sick in a city suffering with severe pollution, and has to deal with a million questions about his sniffles on top of it. Now, I would still keep him as far away from the rest of the team as possible. Dwyane Wade has looked good, but the man's body breaks down more than my first car. And having Dwight Howard come down with pneumonia would just not be good at all. See how we made a whole little story out of Kidd needing some Dimetap? Welcome to the Olympics.