Historical Spotlight: Jamal Crawford

March is always an exciting time for basketball. The NCAA tournament has fans excited to fill out brackets and see what team will cut the nets. Similarly, the NBA is heating up and teams are making moves to either secure their playoff bid or move up in the rankings for a more favorable seeding. Players make names for themselves and leave lasting legacies on the game they love. Join me as we shine a Historical Spotlight on Jamal Crawford, one of the best ball handlers in basketball. 

Jamal was born on March 20, 1980 in Seattle, Washington and attended Rainier Beach High School, the notorious junior program for producing other top NBA and college athletes. During his time there, Jamal led the team to the 1998 Washington Interscholastic Activities Association State Championship. He left such an impact and legacy that the school decided to retire his number 23 jersey in 2001 and inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2018. 

For college, he attended the University of Michigan, but the NCAA suspended him for six games because of his high school living arrangement. The decision was controversial and was protested by the university, but Jamal was forced to sit for the suspension. Once he joined the starting lineup, he averaged 16.6 points, 4.5 assists, and 2.8 rebounds for the season. 

Nicknamed J-Crossover, he decided to go pro after his freshman year and was selected 8th overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 2000 NBA draft. He struggled to adjust during his rookie season and only averaged 4.6 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists over 61 games. His playing time during his second season was limited due to an injury, but he was able to average 9.3 points per game and improved his 3-point shooting percentage to 44.8%. His third season was his first averaging over 10 points per game and he became a major part of the team’s offense. 

During his 4th NBA season, his stats continued to improve, leading to him being named the starting shooting guard. He averaged 17.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. On April 11, 2004, he recorded his first ever 50 point game against the Toronto Raptors. 

He was traded to the New York Knicks for the 2004-2005 season and his points per game improved again to 17.7. During his second season with the Knicks, he was forced into a reduced role coming off the bench. While it took him some time to embrace being a sixth man, he ended up filling the shoes nicely for the team. 

The very next season, he suffered an ACL injury but maintained his production of 17.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game. His numbers improved again during the 2007-2008 season after averaging 20.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. On January 26, 2007, he scored a career-high 52 points and was just one three-pointer shy of breaking the franchise record set in 2002. 

The next season, he played only 11 games before being traded to the Golden State Warriors. His three-point accuracy, ball handling, and court vision proved to be massive assets to the team and complimented their offense. He averaged almost 20 points per game and scored his third 50 point game on December 20, 2008 against the Charlotte Bobcats. 

He was traded to the Atlanta Hawks for the 2009-2010 season and made history by setting an all-time NBA record for the most career four-point plays. He averaged 18 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2 assists off the bench and even won the Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2010. The Hawks qualified for the playoffs that year, earning him his first trip to the postseason. 

Despite his production slightly declining over the next season, he and the team played competitively enough to make it to the playoffs for the second consecutive year. They were the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference and made it to the semifinals before being eliminated. 

On December 15, 2011, Jamal signed with the Portland Trail Blazers and led the league with a 92.7% free throw average. After his one year stint in Oregon, he signed with the Los Angeles Clippers on July 11, 2012 and averaged 16.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. 

The next season, he led the league’s bench players by scoring 18.6 points, 3.2 assists, and 2.3 rebounds per game. He also won his second Sixth Man of the Year Award on May 8, 2014. On November 2, 2015, he hit a major career milestone by scoring over 16,000 points. 

He also recorded his 46th four-point play of his career during a 2016 game against the New Orleans Pelicans. To cap the 2015-2016 season, he won Sixth Man of the Year again for the third time in his career, breaking his own record as the oldest recipient of the award. 

The next season, he passed Vince Carter and became the sixth NBA player to make 2,000 three-pointers in their career. He also moved up to number two in career bench scoring after hitting 9,572 points. 

On July 19, 2017, he signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves and won the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award for being a selfless player and committed to his team. The next season, he played for the Phoenix Suns and, during a victory over the Knicks, recorded a career-high 14 assists. He joined Dell Curry as the only two players to score more than 11,000 career points off the bench. 

He scored his fourth 50-point game on April 9, 2019 against the Dallas Mavericks. He broke Michael Jordan’s record as the oldest player to score more than 50 points, scored the most points ever by a player coming off the bench, and became the only player in history to score 50 points with four different teams. He joined Kobe Bryant as the only players in league history to record three consecutive 25+ point games in their 19th season or later. 

On July 9, 2020, the Brooklyn Nets signed him as a substitute player for the season since four Nets players opted out of playing in the pandemic-forced Bubble in Orlando. This marked his 20th NBA season and made him, at the time, the oldest active player at 40 years old. During his last game ever played, he unfortunately sustained a left hamstring injury. He announced his official retirement on March 21, 2022. 

After hanging up his playing shoes, he started doing game broadcasts for NBA League Pass in November 2021. He also joined The NBA on TNT as a regular color analyst during the 2022-2023 season. He’s also joined the NBA on NBC as a lead game analyst for the 2025-2026 season. 

On August 23, 2015, Jamal married his long-time girlfriend Tori Lucas. He has two sons named Eric and JJ and a daughter named London. The couple settled in the Seattle area, which has granted their son, JJ, opportunities as one of the highly recruited top high school prospects in the class of 2029. 

He has organized private workouts around Seattle and also provides opportunities for local players seeking to progress from amateur status to professional through “The Crawsover” league, a free admission Pro-am summer-league at Seattle Pacific University. 

Over his 20 year career, Jamal played a total of 1,327 regular season games and made history as one of the greatest ball-handlers and Sixth Men in the sport. He was a true role player who complimented almost every offensive system he played in. While he never achieved a championship, his timely three-point shooting and high shooting percentage from the field solidified his legacy in NBA history. 

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Signed, 

Jessica Marie