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Jamal Crawford embarked on one of the last few major decisions of his career after signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the offseason after being traded from the L.A. Clippers to the Atlanta Hawks, after spending five years with the franchise — the longest stretch of his career.
The Clippers made the postseason each year he was there, but always fell short of the ultimate goal — missing that key component that their rival Golden State Warriors seemed to have down pat during the last few years.
“The Warriors weren’t only the best team, but they were the best team (emphasizing their cohesiveness and chemistry),” Crawford told Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. “They never splintered. They stayed together. They handled the moment. You gotta have that. When adversity hits, it doesn’t build character, it reveals it. We didn’t handle it well. And then, at the wrong time, we had injuries. So some of it was self-inflicted, some of it was bad luck.”
“In that five years I was there, we won the third or fourth most games. We were right there in a lot of different ways, and in some ways we weren’t.”
Crawford's words encapsulate just what was wrong with the Clippers — a championship team on paper, but one far from it on the court.
The 17-year veteran had a brief one-year stint in the Bay Area after four successful seasons with the New York Knicks, having made himself into a legitimate scorer. He started all 54 games he played, putting up a shade under 20 points per game for a team in the cellar of the Western Conference.
“This was the first place I played in the NBA where the sun woke me up,” Crawford said, reminiscing of his time with the team. “I used to always go to the Burrito Shop. Go hang out in Jack London Square at the Barnes & Noble. Get some chicken and waffles.”
“One thing about here, the fans give it up. I can honestly say they’re not bandwagon fans. We weren’t good that season and they represented.”
