SAN ANTONIO – Kids growing up in Seattle no longer have an NBA team to watch.
But, they do have Jamal Crawford.
So when Dejounte Murray, then a sixth grader playing on Shawn Kemp’s AAU team, watched Crawford walk up and talk to his team after a game at a middle school, it was a moment any kid growing up in Seattle would cherish.
“Younger student-athletes all the way to grown men, he just does a lot for everyone,” Murray said. “What he does for this city is unbelievable.”
But that was just the start.
Crawford had heard about the gifted young player coming up from the same area he grew up.
“’Baby Boy,’ he’s going to be good,” Crawford said people would tell him.
Nearly a decade later, “Baby Boy,” more commonly known as Dejounte Murray, is now a 2016 first-round pick of the San Antonio Spurs. And no one is more overjoyed about that than the role model who helped guide him along that path.
“He was like my little brother,” Crawford said. “To see him and see this moment, so much has gone into this.”
From that sixth grade moment forward, a constant dialogue began, even before Murray went on to attend Rainier Beach, the same high school Crawford attended 15 years prior.
The school has become a hotbed of eventual NBA talents, from Crawford and Murray, to Doug Christie, to Nate Robinson, to C.J. Giles and Terrence Williams. But making it out of South Seattle and getting to that level is still noteworthy.
“We take a lot of pride being from there, especially in our neighborhood where there aren’t always the best things happening,” Crawford said. “To be able to navigate through that, and not even just make it to the NBA, but to be a model citizen and just life in general, to be a role model, I think it’s big.”
That’s why when Crawford sees someone with the potential of Murray, he reaches out. But even among the many young Seattle natives Crawford does that for, Murray stood out – mostly because from the first day he talked to him, Crawford saw a lot of himself in the kid.
“It was like a carbon copy,” Crawford said. “I gravitated toward him. He’s so genuine.”
It’s become less of an older brother/.younger brother dynamic and more of a tight friendship. Crawford wanted Murray to feel free to ask him anything.
When Crawford was coming up in the league, he was close with Christie and Gary Payton, two players Crawford said took him under their wing. But he still didn’t feel comfortable texting them or asking too many questions.
“To have that line,” Crawford said, “it makes the transition a little smoother.”
And the line with Murray has always been open. Murray said that started back in middle school, and that contact remains today.
The advice can be simple. Keep an open mind. Always ask questions. Always keep the right attitude. Always work hard.
“He does those things anyway,” Crawford said, “so it’s pretty easy.”
Nowadays, with Murray arriving, it’s more cracking jokes than words of wisdom, as it can often be between two close friends.
“It means a lot,” Murray said Saturday, before playing Crawford’s Clippers for the first time as a pro. “When you’re successful, a professional athlete, you can help a lot of others. That’s one thing he did, is help me get to where I’m at today.”
That’s not unusual for young basketballers from Seattle, who look forward to Crawford’s return every summer when he holds his annual Pro-Am tournament, giving those in a city without an NBA team the opportunity to watch pro players.
Murray wishes more professional athletes would do something similar. For now, he’s just trying to follow in Crawford’s footsteps.
“I’m trying to have a long career like he has,” Murray said. “He’s 36, he’s played a lot of years. He’s successful, and he’s still climbing in that top 100 scoring list. He’s a great dude.”