Jamal Crawford is a giving person. So are his aliases.
On the court, JCrossover might give you 20 in the 4th quarter, a game-winner since he already has 11 of them, or maybe he might just give you a reason to see an ankle specialist if you are on the opposing team.
Off the court, you might catch Jamal Clause giving out toys to kids on Christmas, turkeys on Thanksgiving, or basketball tips to campers in the Summer, or making donations to numerous causes to help improve the community.
To show our appreciation for everything he does, we took a trip to the great city where Gary Payton used to throw lobs to Shawn Kemp and stopped by Jamal’s house with a bag full of gifts that I thought Jamal or one of his aliases would not only enjoy but enjoy in the way a younger self would have.
We then sat down for an hour-long chat about how the kid from Seattle became Jay Cee in high school, The Essence at Rucker Park, J-Crossover in the NBA, and Jamal Claus to the rest of the world. Crawford also reminisced about the best and worst times during his still-going-strong basketball journey. He shared numerous amusing stories, from hitting game-winning shots with MJ to Jay-Z’s Rucker Park Dream Team, featuring LeBron, Tracy McGrady, and Shaq. Oh yeah, we also discussed the infamous D-Bands!
I want to apologize for two things in advance. The biggest being that I didn’t have a mic during the interview. But considering I mumble, sometimes stutter, and have a habit of laughing at everything I say, I’m not sure it’s such a bad thing that you can’t hear (or see) me. The other issue is that the video becomes overexposed by the end, making Jamal appear as though he’s being interviewed with heaven as a backdrop. Then again, as corny as this sounds, if heaven is a playground, maybe the heavenly glow is a fitting backdrop.
Enjoy.
BONUS VIDEOS
IF YOU HAVE 3 MINUTES
IF YOU HAVE 15 MINUTES
IF YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES
HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS
PRO-AM MIXTAPES
I remember when Crawford was a rookie…you could see the talent already I used to dust mop the floor before the game and fist-bump Jordan when he was playing