Jamal Crawford Reveals Real Motive Behind NBA Transition Only to Admit Regret Years Later

Majority of aspiring basketball athletes’ top wish is to be in the starting five of an NBA team, but rarely a few like Jamal Crawford can give up that spot and redefine the 6th man role itself. Notably, Crawford played more than half a decade as a starting five, but then he made a major transition by coming off the bench. In a recent episode of ‘All Facts No Brakes’, Crawford details in on the motivation behind this change.

Appearing on the podcast, the former NBA star revisited his time in the league when it didn’t use to be positionless basketball. Crawford mentioned that all his basketball life in school and college he had always been a winner. But this was not turning out to be the case for J-Crossover in the NBA, as he did not even qualify for playoffs till his 9th season in the league.

“So I’m like… I don’t care if I got to come off the bench… I need to change the narrative of I’m a loser because that’s not who I am. And I was so confident in my skills, I’m like, I could still go do what I do just off the bench. I love new challenges,” he stated on the podcast. Subsequently, a trade landed Crawford with the Atlanta Hawks in season 2010. And thus came the first playoff appearance of the former Chicago Bulls star.

“Atlanta at the time… just went to the playoffs, and they had their starting five in place. So it’s almost like a perfect transition,” he stated. The Hawks’ starting five in season 2009-10 included Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, Marvin Williams, and Mike Bibby. However, coming off the bench, Jamal Crawford still got significant average play time and also averaged a decently impressive stat line of 18 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2 assists. 

However, years later of his decision to transition to 6th man, Jamal expressed regret at changing his playing position. “I’m a Point Guard who can score… My biggest regret on the court was changing positions. If only there was position less basketball then…,” he wrote in the caption to one of his IG posts. 

Jamal Crawford’s gameplay coming off the bench

J-Crossover had 8 playoff appearances after his full-fledged transition to the 6th man as compared to not even one in the first 9 seasons of his career. But he failed to secure an NBA championship with any of the teams, so the transition did not do much for his winning aspirations, as stated above.

This can explain his regret at changing his playing position because eventually he did not get the desired result. However, it cannot be denied that the former Bulls star significantly impacted the role of 6th man. So much so that Lou Williams had once stated the ‘Sixth Man of the Year’ should’ve been renamed after him or Jamal Crawford rather than John Havlicek.

Notably, Crawford became 3x NBA Sixth Man of the Year, and continued having significant play time with a decent stat-line. After his transition as the sixth man to his last game, he played 26.8 minutes per game, averaging 15.9 ppg. So the impact Crawford created with his transition of coming off the bench is clear in itself.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.