If Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant absolutely do NOT play during the NBA’s resume in Disney World, they’ll surely need a roster spot.
What about Jamal Crawford?
Crawford has not played NBA basketball since April 9, 2019 as a shooting guard for the Phoenix Suns.
The Michigan product posted 51 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the Suns’ 120-109 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
Crawford has career averages of 14.6 points and 3.4 assists per contest.
Appearing on the Scoop B Radio Podcast, hoops expert, Rashad Phillips spoke highly of Crawford. “I was really baffled this season that no one picked him up,” Phillips told me on the podcast.
“Not only is Jamal a terrific player and all the things that he brings on the court – his scoring, his ability to play multiple positions, he can play the point guard, he can play off the ball, he can be a standstill shooter…but not only those things on the court, but what he does off the court. Like he’s a fantastic locker room guy, a great mentor for the younger players on the team…he just has this magnetism about him that is being overlooked. I believe that he can help teams like the Brooklyn Nets; teams that need that guy to help them get over the hump in the playoffs.”
Crawford knows the Nets’ system well.
Appearing on a recent episode of the Scoop B Radio Podcast, he told me that Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant will have to learn how to play alongside one another. He also believes the duo will figure it out.
“Absolutely,” Crawford told Scoop B Radio.
“Without a doubt. They’ll have moments where they have to figure it out and work their way through. Those moments may come more in the closer games because they’re both used to having the ball and making plays and making decisions and certain ways they may go about things in the closer games. So maybe more presence there, but I’m sure it will happen during the course of the season.”
Irving only played in 20 games this season with lingering shoulder issues. Durant’s been out since last season when he tore his Achilles in last year’s NBA Finals.
“Knowing both of them, and being tight with both of them I think their friendship will supersede everything because they know when they’re getting on each other,” Jamal Crawford told Scoop B Radio.
“They know it’s coming from a good place. They’re both champions. They both know what it takes, and they both knew that this is going to happen when they both thought about teaming up. Once they get through that and get past that, man! They can do anything.”
