Aaron Jamal Crawford, (born 20 March 1980 in Seattle, Washington) better known as simply Jamal Crawford, is an NBA shooting guard.
Crawford currently plays for the New York Knicks. He attended the University of Michigan, but after being drafted in 2000 as a freshman by the Cleveland Cavaliers, he was traded on draft day to the Chicago Bulls for their pick, Chris Mihm. After four seasons in Chicago, he was traded (along with Jerome Williams) to the Knicks prior to the 2004-05 season, where he started alongside Stephon Marbury at shooting guard. Over his career he has averaged 12.7 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. These lower numbers are due to non-starting roles in his first season, and a serious ACL injury suffered playing in pickup games with Michael Jordan before his second season. In New York, he averaged 17.7 points per game, in contrast to 4.6 in his first season as a Bull.
On November 30, 2005 Jamal had one of the most successful halves of basketball in his young career as he torched his ex-team, the Chicago Bulls, for 23 second half points. The New York Knicks overcame an 8 point 4th quarter deficit in this game to beat the Bulls 109-101. The Chicago Tribune quoted ex-Bulls teammate Kirk Hinrich saying "I've seen Jamal do that a lot, It's unfortunate he did it against us."
Crawford's uniform number (23) is retired at Rainer Beach High Sschool in Seattle. On December 6, 2005, he scored 31 second half points in front of friends and family, as he and fellow Rainier Beach alum Nate Robinson enjoyed a road victory over the Seattle SuperSonics. This, just hours after Crawford unveiled Crawford Court, the $100,000 stadium for Rainer Beach HS.
Crawford is praised as a deadly clutch player as he has scored six game-winners in the final 10 seconds in the two seasons he has played with the Knicks. This has earned him the nickname among some Knicks fans, "Clutchford." However, he is also criticized by Knick fans for his inconsistency, and in games when he didn't play as well as the previous night, he is referred to as "Crawful." nhjghjghjghjghjghjghjghjghjghj
In the 2005-06 NBA season, Crawford was projected to be the starting shooting guard alongside Stephon Marbury following the retirement of Allan Houston, but instead came off the bench. After some early-season struggles, he became a favorite of coach Larry Brown for his work ethic and committment to defense.
Crawford has one son.
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