Phoenix Suns superstar Devin Booker and retired guard Jamal Crawford have built a special relationship together after spending they spent the 2018-19 season as teammates. The duo linked up in the summer at the Seattle Pacific University during Crawford’s ‘Crawsover’ event. Booker showed up to support his former teammate and even ran a few drills with his 13-year-old son, JJ Crawford.
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Devin Booker pulled up to watch Jamal Crawford at the Crawsover event in Seattle pic.twitter.com/yuAB6gH662
— CantGuardBook (@CGBBURNER) August 28, 2023
On the Knuckleheads podcast, Crawford revealed Booker surprised him by asking to work out with JJ. He said:
“I was in the gym with [JJ] and D Book [Devin Booker] was coming to Seattle. He was coming to Pro-Am to support. And D Book Facetimed me. And I missed it because I was in the gym. And I saw, I’m like, ‘Hold up, Book just Facetimed me.’ So JJ came in the camera, of course. He’s a fan. So I Facetimed him back and he’s like, ‘What you doing?’ I’m like, ‘I’m in the gym.’ He like, ‘I’m gonna be there later on today, I wanna get in the gym with little bro.”
Crawford claimed he wouldn’t let his son work out with a professional player and would want him to observe and learn. However, he made the exception for Booker. The retired star revealed JJ managed to keep up with Booker during the drills, surprising the Suns superstar. Crawford described it as one of his proudest days as a dad.
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The workout with Booker helped flip JJ’s mindset. Crawford claims that hearing the Suns superstar sing his praise has made his son work harder and chase his basketball dream with more conviction. The retired star expressed gratitude toward Booker on Instagram, resharing the clip from the Knuckleheads podcast which was captioned:
“There’s usually a “game changing “ moment on one’s journey. For Jamal Crawford, it was getting in the gym with one of the best in the world. Forever indebted, Devin Booker.”
The workout with Booker has certainly helped JJ, something that has been reflected in footage of him circulation on X [Formerly Twitter].
Jamal Crawford’s 7th grade son JJ has game! Highlights from MADE Hoops @JCrossover @madehoops pic.twitter.com/gJ9X0dRUNV
— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) December 14, 2023
The workout with Booker has certainly helped JJ. He recently dominated at MADE Hoops, a grassroots league for middle school kids, with father Jamal watching on.
Jamal Crawford and Devin Booker’s bromance
Devin Booker showing love to Jamal Crawford’s son shouldn’t come as a surprise. The three-time Sixth Man of the Year award winner played a mentorship role for the Suns superstar during the 2018-19 season. In an interview with the Athletic in 2019, the veteran guard gave an insight into his relationship with the young star, saying:
“We’ll play 1-on-1 for hours after practice. We talk basketball all the time. He’ll text me, “You see that?” He’s a hoops junkie, and I think that’s rare in this generation.”
Booker was in his fourth season with the team, and his number took a massive leap. He averaged 26.6 points, 6.8 assists, and 4.1 rebounds, but the Suns finished with a dismal 19-63 record. The star was accused of stat-padding on a bad team, but Crawford quickly came to his defense and dismissed the notion. He said:
“I don’t buy it. And I tell him not to. I tell him, “You know your heart is pure. You know you’re playing to win the game.” I don’t like the narrative of, “Oh, he’s doing this when they’re down 20.” Well, there’s a lot of games where we were down 20. You always tell people to play the final buzzer, and he’s doing that.”
Booker and Crawford shared a locker room for only one season, but it’s evident that the two have built a profound relationship. It makes sense that the Suns superstar would go out of his way to help his former teammate’s son and repay him for the faith he showed in him when he was a young player in the league.
