Kidd denies reports of faked illness

Point guard Jason Kidd insisted a migraine caused him to miss a New Jersey Nets game, brushing aside reports he was staging a personal one-day strike to induce a trade or get a contract extension.

“I didn’t miss a game due to unhappiness, that’s the first thing to clear up,” Kidd said Thursday at a news conference he called at the Nets’ headquarters in East Rutherford, N.J.

“I am human, at the end of the day, I am human,” said Kidd. “I went out and played with one leg. I played with a broken rib and yesterday, I just couldn’t go. There was no plan of me not going. I felt that I couldn’t help the team.”

A source told the New York Post that Kidd was “on strike.” Yahoo reported that he was looking to be traded to Cleveland to play with LeBron James. There also were reports that he wanted an extension of a contract that ends after next season.

“Everything has been taken out of context,” Kidd said. “I was sick yesterday and I couldn’t play. Everyone has come up with their own theory of me being upset.”

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