At 40, Jamal Crawford is the NBA’s eldest statesman. But the league’s grand old man is out to prove he’s still more grand than old, that he’s got enough left in the tank to help a team win.
And after spending this season out of the game, when Crawford finally got the call to join the Nets for the NBA restart in Orlando, a shot at the playoffs made it a no-brainer. That chance started in earnest Wednesday, after clearing quarantine and practicing for the first time.
“I talked it over with my family. My wife was like, you have to go do this. My son felt the same way,” Crawford said via Zoom, acknowledging the obvious coronavirus concerns.
“Nothing’s 100 percent, [but if] we can stay as close to that as possible and keep players’ safety first, for me it was a no-brainer. An opportunity to play on a team that’s in the playoff hunt, that’s trying to look to improve with vets out, I feel like for me it’d be a great situation and I was honored I got the call.”
Crawford finally got the call from a Nets team that is without eight players — including close pals Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
“I’m excited about bringing leadership, playmaking, scoring, whatever is asked of me,” Crawford said. “Whatever is asked of me I try to do to the best of my ability and try to help the team for the stretch run.”
Crawford has provided all of the above in a 19-year career, averaging 14.6 points a game. But despite last season’s hot finish, he went unsigned last summer.
“I went through a range of emotions. I was frustrated at the beginning. I didn’t understand. I didn’t know what happened,” Crawford said. “Character-wise, I just won teammate of the year, so that part’s solid.
“I was able to still show I could play at a high level, so I didn’t understand it. … I was like, if God said your last game is a 51-point game off the bench, that’s a heck of an exit. … But I’m so happy to be back.”
In Crawford’s last month he averaged 31.3 points; in his final game, he lit up the Mavericks for 51.
His ability to get a bucket will help this threadbare roster.
“He’s a guy that loves to play the game in the offseason,” Nets interim coach Jacque Vaughn said. “Really keeps himself in shape, whether that’s playing in pro-ams, in pickup games, being around the game with his kids. Then some people just have the genetics to go with it. They’re special human beings and they can still play at the age of 40 — or 20 times two, right?”
According to Crawford, that longevity is born of love.
“Just staying in love with the game,” he said.
“When you’re in love with it you’re willing to do whatever it takes: Be it cold tubs, or massages, acupuncture, changing your diet — which my wife did years ago before I even knew she changed it, slipping in water and different things — but when you love the game purely … you’re willing to sacrifice. I love it purely, that’s the only reason I’m still playing.”
But how long will he play? As a friend of Durant and Irving, and one who can still score, could he land a spot on next year’s roster as the kind of low-cost vet star-studded superteams need?
“No. I haven’t thought about it,” Crawford said. “If you have plans, God will tell you, ‘That’s kind of funny. Let me show you this.’ So for me I’m just trying to stay in the moment, not take any of it for granted and just really enjoy this process that I’m in right now. The future will be the future: But now I want to focus on what’s in front of me.”