Kidd slam dunks his spouse

Claiming to be a battered husband, New Jersey Nets star Jason Kidd blindsided his spouse Joumana yesterday with a rim-shattering divorce petition.
Kidd insisted he was the victim of an "increasingly jealous and paranoid" woman who bugged his computer and car - and used their son to steal his cell phone from the Nets locker room.

And when it came to resolving marital disputes, Kidd - who was once busted for punching his wife in the mouth - insisted that she was the one who resorted to violence.

"Since the inception of marriage, defendant's [Joumana Kidd's] method of displaying anger, or dealing with frustration, has been to hit the plaintiff [Kidd], punch the plaintiff, kick the plaintiff, or throw nearby household objects at the plaintiff," he claimed in papers filed in Bergen County Family Court in Hackensack, N.J.

If Kidd complained, his wife threatened "to call 911 and file fictitious domestic violence reports," the papers state.

"Jason Kidd filed for divorce from his wife today on the grounds of extreme cruelty over a long period of time," said his lawyer, Madeline Marzano-Lesnevich. "As this is an extremely difficult personal matter, I ask that the privacy of the Kidd family be respected."

Kidd's sudden move to end his troubled, 10-year marriage caught Joumana Kidd and her lawyers by surprise.

"We were in conversation with Mr. Kidd's lawyers today and there was no mention of an intention to file," her lawyer, Gary Newman, said. "We haven't seen the complaint."

The lawyers were huddling a day after police - acting on temporary restraining order that Kidd had taken out against his wife - booted Joumana, a former model and occasional television personality, from their sumptuous Saddle River, N.J., home.

Joumana Kidd was allowed to return home last night while Kidd suited up for the Nets' game against Toronto. But she has been barred from Continental Arena and the team's practice facility, a Nets source said.

There was no immediate comment of the divorce papers from either of the warring spouses. Newman said Kidd, 33, has been living at "an unknown residence" for several weeks.

But earlier in the day, Kidd admitted he was in a "tough and difficult situation," giving no hint that he was about to drop a bomb on his 34-year-old wife.

"I think anything that I do there will be headlines, but again this is a family matter, and we're trying to work our family things out the right way," he said at the team's practice facility in East Rutherford, N.J.

Kidd, who is in the fourth year of a $99 million, six-year contract with the Nets, married Joumana in February 1997.

The first hint of trouble came three years later when Kidd was arrested for socking her during an argument over their son, Trey Jason, or T.J., who was 2 at the time. The couple also have 4-year-old twin girls, Miah and Jazelle.

Kidd pleaded guilty to spousal abuse, was fined $200 and ordered to take anger management classes. His record was later expunged. But he had to endure the taunts of opposing fans who chanted "wife beater" when he came to the free-throw line.

"These people would make a nun retaliate," Kidd said after he was heckled by Boston Celtics fans during a playoff game.

In the court papers, the 6-foot-4 point guard claimed he was on the receiving end of the physical abuse and said his 5-foot-5 wife "considers her behavior the normal course of marital discord."

Joumana Kidd also grew "increasingly controlling and manipulative" and took to dissing his "career in front of the children" and lying down in front of Kidd's car "to prevent him from attending professional obligations," the papers state.

Two days after Christmas, Kidd said she sent their son into the locker room to "rummage through the Plaintiff's belongings."

"After finding [Kidd's] cell phone ... [Joumana] left the locker room to investigate the names and numbers on the cell phone," the papers state.

Leaving the boy in the locker room, Joumana Kidd then "took a front-row seat in the arena and proceeded to shout personal insults at ... [her husband] throughout the game," the papers state.

Kidd also called his wife a spendthrift who "insisted upon excess household help, upon lavish gifts, and upon excessive high-end clothing."

But the court papers do not allege - as some newspapers have reported - that Joumana Kidd abused their kids. "There's no allegation on Jason's part that she did anything against the kids," said Walter Lesnevich, another of Kidd's lawyers.

Kidd is seeking joint custody of the three children.

The NBA star also has a 13-year-old son, Jason, from a one-night stand with a United Airlines clerk from San Francisco named Alexandria Brown.

Kidd does not have custody of Jason Jr.

Rumors that the Kidds' marriage was on the rocks had been circulating for several years. Kidd insisted repeatedly that his marriage was solid. And Joumana Kidd brought their kids to the open practice the Nets held at Ramapo College on Jan. 2.