Jamal Crawford
Born: March 20, 1980
Birthplace: Seattle, WA
Zodiac Sign: Pisces
Aaron Jamal Crawford is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the NBA. Crawford played his high school basketball for Rainier Beach High School, a basketball powerhouse in Seattle, before committing to play for the University of Michigan. Crawford was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers but was traded on draft day to the Chicago Bulls. In his career, he has also played for the New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves. He won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2010, 2014 and 2016, becoming the first three-time winner of the award in NBA history. He currently holds the record for most career four-point plays made with 54 (59 when counting the playoffs).
Crawford attended Rainier Beach High School in Seattle, where his number (23) is retired. At Rainier Beach, Crawford was a standout player who led the Rainier Beach Vikings to victory in the 1998 WIAA State Championship. Rainier Beach High School is also where fellow NBA and NCAA basketball players Doug Christie, Nate Robinson, Terrence Williams, and C.J. Giles attended. After high school, Crawford attended the University of Michigan, where he was given a six-game suspension by the NCAA for violating rules on amateurism and extra benefits received from Seattle businessman Barry Henthorn. Crawford served his suspension and ended up averaging 16.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.1 steals as a starter for the Wolverines. He was then declared eligible for the 2000 NBA draft.
Crawford was drafted in 2000 as a freshman by the Cleveland Cavaliers but was traded on draft day to the Chicago Bulls for their pick, Chris Mihm. In his rookie year Crawford started in 8 of the Bulls' 82 regular season games. In his rookie year Crawford struggled with his shot, shooting just 35.2% from the field. Despite his low shooting percentage, Crawford scored in double digits 10 times and ended the season averaging 4.6 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists. In his 2nd NBA season, Crawford played in only 23 games due to injury, starting in 8 of these games. Though limited by injury, in this season he improved in nearly every statistical category, averaging 9.3 points, 1.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists. In his third year with the Bulls, Crawford played in 80 games, starting in 31. Crawford became a major component of Bill Cartwright's offense, and continued to improve statistically, averaging 10.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1 steal per game. The Bulls missed the playoffs with a record of 30-52. Crawford's fourth year in Chicago was his last. In the season Crawford averaged 17.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.4 steals. During the season Crawford became the starting shooting guard for the Bulls, Crawford had his best game as a Bull, scoring 50 points and drilling 6-11 three-pointers, vs. the Toronto Raptors on April 11, 2004. The Bulls finished at 23-59 in what was Scottie Pippen's last year in the NBA. Prior to the 2004–05 season (after four seasons in Chicago), Crawford was traded, along with Jerome Williams, to the Knicks for Dikembe Mutombo, Othella Harrington, Frank Williams and Cezary Trybanski.
Crawford joined another young rebuilding team in the Knicks. Crawford started in 67 games for the Knicks, averaging 17.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.4 steals. Crawford had many games in which he scored over 20 points, most noticeably a 41-point effort in which he made 17-25 shots against the Charlotte Bobcats on December 4, 2004. The Knicks failed to qualify for the playoffs. Crawford in his second year in New York City took a reduced sixth man role under head coach Larry Brown. In the role he averaged 14.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists. The Knicks failed to make the playoffs with at 23-59. For the 2006-2007 season the Knicks went a new direction, hiring Isiah Thomas to be the new head coach. He became the 4th head coach for the Knicks in 3 years. Crawford only played in 59 games due to injury but averaged 17.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4.4 assists. In 2007-2008 Crawford averaged 20.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists. Crawford provided one of the few bright spots for the 23-59 Knicks on January 26, 2007, when he scored a career high 52 points, hitting 16 shots in a row at one point. He hit 8 straight three-pointers, one short of the team record set by Latrell Sprewell in 2002. In 2008-2009 Crawford only played in 11 games for the Knicks before being traded to the Golden State Warriors for Al Harrington.
Crawford was a good fit in Don Nelson's run-and-gun offense because of his three-point shooting, ball handling and quickness. Crawford played in 54 games for the Warriors, starting in all of them. He averaged nearly 20 points a game, with 4.4 assists and 1.5 rebounds. On December 20, 2008, Crawford scored 50 points vs the Charlotte Bobcats in a 110–103 victory for the Golden State Warriors. He became the fourth player in NBA history (after Wilt Chamberlain, Bernard King and Moses Malone) to score 50 points or more with 3 different teams, doing so with the Bulls, the Knicks, and the Warriors. The Warriors did not qualify for the playoffs. They traded Crawford to the Atlanta Hawks for guards Acie Law and Speedy Claxton.
When Crawford joined the Atlanta Hawks in 2009, the team had made the playoffs the last two seasons. On January 15, 2010 Crawford hit the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer for the Hawks in a game against the Phoenix Suns; the Hawks won 102-101. On February 3, 2010, Crawford set an NBA record for most career four-point plays made in a win over the Los Angeles Clippers, passing Reggie Miller. Crawford averaged 18.0 points 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists off the bench, backing up All-Star guard Joe Johnson, and Mike Bibby. Crawford was a leading candidate for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award and won it in 2010. The Hawks, led by Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, Mike Bibby and Crawford, qualified for the playoffs. The clinching turned out to be Crawford's first trip to the playoffs; Crawford had the record for longest tenured player without playing in a playoff game. Crawford and the Hawks advanced past the Milwaukee Bucks in seven games. Crawford led all scorers with 22 in the decisive game seven. The Hawks were eventually swept by the Orlando Magic. In his second season in Atlanta, the Hawks fired coach Mike Woodson and hired Larry Drew. Crawford regressed from his 2009-2010 season but still had a solid season off the bench, averaging 14.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Crawford was considered for the Sixth Man of the Year Award but lost to Lamar Odom. The Hawks made it to the playoffs, this time as the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks defeated the Orlando Magic, in a series where Crawford made a game-clinching three-pointer with six seconds left in Game 3, but were defeated in six games by the Chicago Bulls in the conference semi-finals.
On December 15, 2011, Crawford signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. He averaged nearly 14 points in 60 games, while leading the league in free throw percentage with a career-high 92.7 percent in the lockout-shortened season. The Trail Blazers did not make the playoffs with a record of 28-38 (.424).
On July 11, 2012, Crawford signed with the Los Angeles Clippers.
On July 6, 2017, Crawford was acquired by the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team trade involving the Clippers and the Denver Nuggets. The following day, however, he was waived by the Hawks.
On July 19, 2017, Crawford signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves. In his debut for the Timberwolves in their season opener on October 18, 2017, Crawford scored 10 points in a 107–99 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Two days later, he scored all 17 of his points in the fourth quarter and hit a 3-pointer with 27 he scored a season-high 23 points in 23 minutes, with 16 in the fourth quarter, in a 108–107 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. On March 30, 2018, he had a 24-point effort in a 93–92 win over the Dallas Mavericks. In June 2018, he won the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award.
On October 17, 2018, Crawford signed with the Phoenix Suns. On December 17, 2018, he had a career-high 14 assists in a 128–110 win over the New York Knicks. On January 6, 2019, he scored 16 points in a 119–113 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, thus joining Dell Curry as the only NBA players, since starting lineups were recorded, with 11,000 career points as reserves. Source.