He played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1992 to 2008 for the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Kent won the National League Most Valuable Player award in 2000 with the San Francisco Giants, and is the all-time leader in home runs among second basemen.

After three seasons in the minor leagues, Kent was invited to spring training with the Blue Jays in 1992 and made the opening day roster.

He saw limited at-bats early in the season; however, an injury to starting third baseman Kelly Gruber granted Kent a more regular role in the line-up.

In a deal made prior to the 1996 trade deadline, the Mets sent Kent and José Vizcaíno to the Cleveland Indians for Álvaro Espinoza and Carlos Baerga.

Brian Sabean, in his first year as general manager of the Giants, was so widely criticized for the move that he famously defended himself to the media by saying, "I am not an idiot.

Immediately inserted in the line-up behind superstar Barry Bonds, and with the confidence of manager Dusty Baker, Kent finally rose to his full potential, hitting .250 with 29 home runs and 121 RBI.

The Giants front office had lost confidence in Kent after an incident during spring training left him with a broken wrist.

[14] During his time with the San Francisco Giants, Kent was involved in a well-documented incident of racial hostility directed towards his teammate Tsuyoshi Shinjo.

This behavior reportedly led to strained relations between Kent and Shinjo, adding to the internal conflicts within the Giants' clubhouse at the time.

[17] In addition, growing tension that had been developing between Kent and Bonds for years finally boiled over: a midseason fight in the Giants dugout was widely reported in 2002 and caught on television.

[18] The feud between the two was so bad that, at the end of the season, San Francisco Chronicle beat reporter Ray Ratto said of the two, "The one who lives longer will attend the other's funeral, just to make sure he's dead.

During the 2002 offseason, Kent signed a two-year, $19.9 million deal with the Houston Astros, citing his desire to be closer to his family's Texas ranch.

[24] His last major league at-bat took place on October 15, 2008 in game five of the 2008 NLCS, in which he struck out looking against Cole Hamels to end the 7th inning.

[37] In 2011, Kent donated $100,000 and raised awareness to help reinstate the Cal baseball program, which was being cut for cost-saving purposes.

Kent's underperformance relative to his offensive prowess has been attributed to poor defense, the tainted era he played in, and his reputation as a negative presence in the locker room.

His daughter, Lauren, and his eldest son, Hunter, both attended Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah.

Lauren graduated from BYU in December 2017, and Hunter played on the practice squad for the Cougars, before taking leave to serve a two-year mission in Mexico.

[44] Kent's son, Colton, played his prep baseball at Lake Travis High School, in Austin, Texas.