Michael Jordan (L) and Scottie Pippen (R) of the Chicago Bulls talk during the final minutes of their game 22 May in the NBA Eastern Conference finals aainst the Miami Heat at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls won the game 75-68 to lead the series 2-0. AFP PHOTO/VINCENT LAFORET (Photo by VINCENT LAFORET / AFP) (Photo credit should read VINCENT LAFORET/AFP via Getty Images)
Jamal Crawford is literally one of the biggest Michael Jordan fans out there.
No lie.
Appearing on the Scoop B Radio Podcast, NFL Network’s Nate Burleson shared a story about the Seattle, Washington native.
“When I was younger, Jamal was really tight with my older brother and we’re all still tight,” he told me.
“South Seattle has produced all the athletes bro. We all learn to just appreciate each other more as we get older. We didn’t realize that we were cookin’ in this pot but like, Nate Robinson, Marvin Williams… this list goes on, even Phillip Heath who was the seven-time Olympian bodybuilder – Mr. Olympia. So anyway, Jamal, he would come over and stay like a week at a time. He would ask my pops – everybody calls him ‘Big Al’ he would say, ‘Big Al, can I come over and kick it for a day or two?’… and he would come through and hang out bro – and we didn’t have money, so we were eating Top Ramen, eating pickles, off-brand sodas… that was like our meal. Every day. We wake up and I would want to flirt with girls at the park, my brother would want to go hoop at the park and Jamal would want to stay in and watch ‘Come Fly With Me’ every single day. He’d eat cereal and he’d eat Top Ramen and sit in front of that TV every day and for us it’s like, dog come on…you can’t watch it for the twentieth time in three days – he’s like, one more time, one more time! But that’s how much he loved basketball. Like, that was it. Then he would go in the park, mimic his moves and then come back and watch it again. Him and my brother were like the two guys that I ever saw have basketball jones. And then when I heard the song, oh that’s these guys. Because I lived it and breathed it.”
Burleson insists that Jamal Crawford‘s obsession with basketball is why he’s had such a successful career.
GettyJamal Crawford, NBA free agent
“Jamal was a student of the game and he was deeply, deeply in love with the sport of basketball,” he told me.
“My brother, he heard about A.C. Green. He heard about A.C. Green not having sex, so he just remained a virgin until his early twenties and he heard about another athlete a hooper who didn’t eat candy, didn’t eat soda, so he didn’t eat candy or soda. It was crazy. Like I’d be on the phone trying to flirt with girls, trying to figure out a way to take them out on a date so I can make out with them and he was in the garage doing Pistol Pete dribbling drills. And that was him and Jamal growing up. My brother ended up playing a couple years in the League, played overseas and now he’s one of the coaches on the Minnesota Timberwolves staff. Yeah man, those guys growing up and watching them, I always say if I loved football as much as my brother loved basketball, I’d be in the Hall of Fame.”