One of the most intriguing stories of this young season has
been the success of the Los Angeles Clippers. As a team that was projected by many to struggle
to attain home court advantage in the playoffs, the Clippers are currently
sitting atop the Western Conference standings.
Perhaps more surprising than the results, though, has been the ways the
Clippers are getting it done. Sure, the
usual suspects, All-Stars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, are playing well. But perpetually raw prospect DeAndre Jordan
has taken enough of a step forward that Paul recently labeled him team MVP on
Twitter. And the man leading the
Clippers in scoring isn’t Paul or Griffin.
In fact, it’s a player who wasn’t on the team last year, and hasn’t even
started a game for the Clippers this season.
His name is Jamal Crawford.
The fact that Crawford leads the team in scoring is no great
surprise. After all, when “JCrossover”
comes into the game, he has one job and one job only: get buckets. And Crawford’s certainly been very good at
that throughout his 12 year career. But
it is shocking just how prolific a scorer Crawford has been this year, and how
well he has been shooting the ball.
Crawford currently ranks 14th in the league in scoring at
19.7 points per game (with a scintillating .496 field percentage), and he has
played the least minutes per game of any player in the top 15 at 28.2. In fact, no other player on the list plays
less than 34 minutes a game. Currently,
Kobe Bryant leads the league in scoring at 26.4 PPG. But his per 36 minute scoring average is
26.2, while Crawford’s is 25.1. Clearly, Crawford is in the same class as
Bryant, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James as an elite scorer in the league.
Bryant, Durant, and James are obviously known commodities in
the NBA; we know exactly what they are capable of. But how does a guy like Crawford become one
of the top scorers in the league? Well,
he shoots three-pointers. A lot of them. Despite playing so little minutes, Crawford ranks
in the top 20 in the three-point attempts, a list that Bryan, Durant and James
do not make an appearance on. When
Crawford comes into the game, he parks himself at the three-point line and
makes little secret about his nefarious intentions. The Clippers occasionally run him around
screens, but he actually gets most of his attempts from spot up opportunities. Crawford has an innate ability to create space
with his dribble, a quick release, good height to get his shot off (6’5”), and a
rainbow arc to his jump shot that would make fellow gunner Stephen Jackson
jealous. He also has a nifty floater in
the lane on those occasions when he gets to the basket. In addition, Crawford is also excellent at
drawing contact from defenders, meaning he shoots a lot of free throws (about
five a game), and actually lead the league in free throw shooting last year at
.927 (he is nearly as good this year at .920).
In short, Jamal Crawford is a scoring machine.
Despite all that though, there’s been little pressure on
Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro to move Crawford into the starting lineup, even with
the struggles of the incumbent at shooting guard, Willie Green, who sports a
lousy 8.8 Player Efficiency Rating (PER) on the season (Crawford’s is
22.6). That’s because Crawford has become
one of the preeminent sixth men in the league, and most people, including
Crawford himself, seem to agree that Crawford is best suited for that role. Crawford has been a journeyman throughout his
career, playing for six different teams since being drafted 8th
overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 2000 draft.
The first eight years of his career, Crawford was mostly a starter for
various teams, and often played as much point guard as shooting guard due to
his great ball handling skills.
The University of Michigan product developed for a
reputation for scoring a lot (of course), but also for his wicked crossovers
and big shots in clutch situations. Over
the years, Crawford has generated as many YouTube-worthy highlights as any
player who can’t dunk in NBA history. Among
his most memorable crossover victims have been Kirk Hinrich, Dwyane Wade, and Ray Allen (twice!). Crawford has also hit his fair share of game winning shots. Along the way, he became the fourth player in
NBA history to score 50 or more points with three different teams (the Bulls, Knicks,
and Warriors), putting himself in the company of all-time greats Wilt
Chamberlain, Moses Malone, and Bernard King.
And Crawford, who gets to the free line a lot for a jump shooter, also
holds the NBA records for four-point players in a career, and in a game. Not bad for a guy who claims he never
practiced shooting until this past off season (http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/18/sports/la-sp-elliott-clippers-20121019).
Despite all those accomplishments though, it wasn’t until
2009, his first season with the Atlanta Hawks, that Crawford truly had his
breakout. For the first time ever,
Crawford didn’t start a game during the regular season. That season, playing for a contending team for
the first time in his career and freed from the constraints of having to be a
playmaker, when Crawford came into the game, he was free to focus on doing what
he does best: scoring. He responded with
the best season of his NBA career to that point, earning a Player Efficiency
Rating of 18 and per 36 minutes scoring average of nearly 21. Those numbers were good enough back then to
earn Crawford the Sixth Man of the Year Award.
Given that his statistics this season far exceed those of that 2009 campaign,
Crawford would seem to be a shoo-in to win that award again, and possibly
capture his first All-Star berth as well, particularly if the Clippers keep
winning.
Crawford’s play has certainly earned him the respect of his
peers. When he became a free agent in
2011, and was available again this past off season, teams practically fell all
over themselves to acquire his services.
Portland forward Lamarcus Aldridge openly campaigned
for his services on Twitter last year. And
when Crawford became a free agent after last year, at least six
teams competed for his services, despite the fact that he was coming off a
down season with Portland. And Crawford
doesn’t just get respect in NBA circles; he gets it in his hometown, too. Seattle, Washington is underrated as far as
NBA hotbeds go, and Crawford is arguably the best player to come out of that
area. Brandon Roy, Nate Robinson, Isaiah
Thomas, Terrence Williams, and Tony Wroten are just some of the guys who call Seattle
home, and they all seem to look up to and draw inspiration from Crawford, who
won a state championship with Ranier High School in 1998, as a “big brother”
type. Crawford hosts the Jamal Crawford
Summer Pro-Am League in the area every summer, and he has a court named after
him in Washington that his Jamal Crawford Foundation donated $50,000 to
refurbish.
The career arc of Jamal Crawford has certainly been an interesting
one. He has gone from highly regarded
prospect out of college, to overpaid gunner for bad teams, to underappreciated
scoring maestro off the bench for contenders.
The fact that Crawford has changed teams so frequently has probably
prevented him from gaining the mainstream recognition he deserves. But you get the feeling that his peers
certainly appreciate Crawford and all that he does. If the NBA were gym class, and the players
were picking among themselves for a game of five on five, Crawford would
probably be one of the first guys off the board. Fellow Seattleite Brandon Roy was sometimes
called The Natural, but the nickname could just as easily apply to
Crawford. He’s one of those players that
never seem to be trying too hard despite all the amazing things that they do. Putting the ball in the basket just seems to
come as naturally to him as walking. And
despite that placid demeanor and below the rim game, you always get the feeling
that Jamal Crawford is a highlight waiting to happen. This suddenly elite Clippers team will
certainly be hoping there are many more highlights to come.
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