Rowan Kavner
(Editor’s Note: Questions may be edited for grammar, brevity or clarity.)
LOS ANGELES – Jamal Crawford continued moving up the all-time ranks this week, jumping to No. 3 in bench scoring in NBA history during the Clippers’ win in Phoenix.
This week, Crawford took some time to answer questions from fans, submitted to Clippers.com using “#LACmailbag” on Facebook and Twitter. Fans can submit both on and off court questions. Here’s what he had to say.
Kevin Vischer – How difficult is it to come off the bench and immediately get hot?
JC: “Very difficult. I had to trick myself. It’s a lot easier starting, to be honest with you. When you’re starting, you’re playing 35 minutes, you can start out 1-for-5 and end up 9-for-18, you can shoot yourself in a rhythm. I’ve done both, and it’s a lot easier starting. You come off the bench, you have to have an immediate impact and everyone in the gym knows what you’re coming in for. It’s a little bit more difficult.”
Wyatt Smith – What kind of workouts do you do to get your handles so smooth?
JC: “I just keep the ball with me. Wherever I go, I have a basketball with me. I used to dribble a basketball down the street to the movie theater, to the mall. Now, I don’t go that far with it, but I have it in the car always ready to go. You should always keep the ball with you, let your imagination run wild, always be more instinctive than robotic.”
João Soares(@JSoares06) - Are you confident this team is capable of reaching the conference finals and potentially the NBA Finals? #LACMailbag
JC: “I’m very confident in this team. I think the leadership that we have, obviously with Doc (Rivers) and everybody, and this being one of the deepest teams in the league, I think that’ll play to our advantage. Obviously there are things we’ve got to work out, we’ve got to be healthy, go through the ups and downs and ebbs and flows of the season, but I’m confident in us.”
Celine (@creepscth) – Which teammate do you have the best handshake with? #LACMailbag
JC: “I would say me and Double-A (Alan Anderson), just because he made it up and it’s the longest. He made up ours. DJ (DeAndre Jordan) and Blake (Griffin) made up ours, too, but ours is kind of quick and to the point. That one is long. That one’s got to be the best.”
Jake Ashkinos (@jakeashkinos) – What team do you look forward to playing against the most?
JC: “I would say the Spurs. They’ve just been the golden standard for 15-20 years, so I look forward to playing them.”
Loretos Rubai (@Sarijus) – Why don’t you have an Instagram account?
JC: “To be honest, I’m not into brands and stuff. It took me forever to get Twitter. I was one of the last ones on. I’m going to expand on that... I’m not really into brands. I think my brand is just being authentic and being me. Everybody goes right, I go left. It took long enough to get Twitter, and that was it.”