Jamal Crawford takes to the ‘All the Smoke’ podcast to talk about Michael Jordan and what it was like to work out with him.
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Jamal Crawford certainly entered the NBA with a few badges of honor. Perhaps the most illustrious of them all was getting vouched for by Michael Jordan himself. Though he wasn’t a player for the Chicago Bulls any longer, he urged Jerry Krause and the front office to draft him during the 2000 Draft; which they did.
Michael Jordan seemed to have been incredibly intrigued by Crawford during the earlier stages of his career. So much so that he invited the 3x Sixth Man of the Year to work out with him on several occasions while also teaming up with him in pick-up games for two straight years.
Jamal Crawford even played the role of a young Michael Jordan in a commercial that pitted the younger, more inexperienced MJ against a more seasoned, Washington Wizards MJ.
Jamal Crawford praises Michael Jordan.
Though Jamal Crawford would eventually become a journeyman within the league during his latter decade, he did so while racking up several awards. According to ‘J-Crossover’, this wouldn’t have been possible without the confidence that Michael Jordan instilled within him from an early stage in his budding NBA career.
As Crawford said, having the greatest player of all time vouch for you on such a level would surely give any player a certain level of confidence. The on-court lessons MJ taught him seemed to have worked too as the shifty guard became a mid-range connoisseur during his career, helping him extend his years in the league.
“Playing with MJ was one of the best things of my career. Here, I have the best player ever, picking me up on his team ad encouraging me to be aggressive, teaching lessons along the way. What’s better than that? Once I was with him and he showed confidence in me, there was no looking back,” said Jamal on a separate occasion to Anthony Puccio of ‘The Association’.
