Sixth Man

Robyn Dixon

Rowan Kavner  Digital Content Coordinator

PLAYA VISTA, Calif. – The moment didn’t seem comprehensible to Jamal Crawford, walking up to the podium to deliver a speech after winning an NBA-record third Kia Sixth Man of the Year trophy, which stood on a table behind him next to the other two he brought back from his home in Seattle for the occasion.

“It’s surreal,” said Crawford, usually more comfortable with attention on the court than off it. “Even when I got the call, it didn’t seem real. Today, I bought a suit just for this. I had to put the suit on and went, ‘This is really happening.’”

Typically, national recognition is reserved for the five players who start a game. To be one of the select few off the bench recognized with a Sixth Man award, a player must be elite enough to start and have the humility and willingness to turn that down to win. 

For Crawford, that mindset began in 2009. He knew being an elite scorer on a bad team meant little. A decade into his career, he sacrificed.

And, on Tuesday afternoon, he etched his name in NBA lore, voted the best to do it three of the last seven seasons.

“I’m such a student of the game, so it’s unbelievable,” Crawford said. “It really is, to know that you have a small part of history with so many great players that have come before you.”

In some ways, this was a familiar spot to Crawford, who’d won the award in 2010 with the Hawks and then again in 2014 with head coach Doc Rivers and the Clippers. Physically, even at age 36, he looks basically the same as he did two years prior, when he first became the oldest player to win the award at 34.

Crawford, who doesn’t like to talk about his age, joked that he still looks young because his wife makes him drink water all the time and "put down the Capri Suns." But as modest as he wants to be, he knows he worked to put himself in the position he’s in at 36 years old, not only sitting at the end of a bench in the NBA but still playing and performing at a superior level.  

He’s scoring in double digits on a nightly basis, and amazingly, in his 16th season in the league, Crawford’s gained steam as the year’s gone on.

Crawford scored 32 points in a spot start against Oklahoma City on March 31. Called upon to start again with the regulars resting, he scored 30 points and hit the game-winner in Utah. Two nights later, he dropped 22 points on the Mavericks. 

“It’s more about not cheating the game and being in love with the game,” Crawford said. “If I took off three months or two months to try to recover, it’s almost like if you leave your house for nine months, and then you come back and try to turn on the lights and they start popping, or the car may not start.”

He won’t allow himself to stop playing, whether he’s in the middle of a playoff push or the middle of the offseason. Crawford dribbles a basketball every day of his life, and that won’t change even when he decides to eventually hang it up – something far from the mind of the veteran guard, who believes he could still play another five years.

“Even the day I retire, I’ll be playing at L.A. Fitness somewhere,” Crawford said. “I’ve never cheated the game, and I think that’s a part of having longevity.”

It’s that drive that had him standing at the podium at the Clippers’ training facility in Playa Vista. In that respect, Tuesday night’s feeling was similar.

Of all seasons, this seemed, at least initially, the least likely for Crawford to end up accepting an award. During the summer, Rivers had a long talk with Crawford.  

“I said, ‘We’re going to have to change not only the way we play, but the way you play,” Rivers recalled. “We’re going to move the ball more. We’re going to have more movement. You’re still going to get shots, but that second group will grow more.”

The bench did grow eventually, but it took time and didn’t go the way anyone initially planned.

Changing rotations and new faces throughout the early portion of the year meant ebbs and flows in production. Then, everything started to click, partially because of production from lesser-used players such as Cole Aldrich. For Crawford personally, he credits a Christmas chat with Rivers.

“Doc said, ‘I need you to be more aggressive,’ and that’s what I needed to hear,” Crawford said. “He’s the best at that, he knows the pulse of the team – not just for me but for all of our guys. He knows exactly what buttons to push or when we need a pat on the back or when we really need to turn it up. He kind of felt that, and it paid off for us.” 

Since Dec. 25, Crawford has the most games in the NBA with at least 15 points off the bench – doing it in a way unlike the past. Yes, Crawford still thrives in 1-on-1 situations.

But with this group of reserves, surrounding Aldrich with a handful of players with size who can move the ball and attack the rim, Crawford needed to tweak his game. And, he did, as he makes room in his house for a third Sixth Man trophy.

“This one may be more significant than the other two because nobody could have predicted they would have won it like this,” Crawford said. “From an age standpoint, nobody would have said that, and then from the point of us revamping our bench and me kind of taking a step backward.”

Rivers credits Crawford for moving more without the ball this year – and for being willing to tweak and improve almost two decades into his career.

“I think that just tells you who Jamal is,” Rivers said. “Whatever’s good for the team, he’s going to do it, and he did it.”

It’s a funny spot for Crawford, Rivers says. The Sixth Man Award is an unselfish award, yet here Crawford finds himself alone in the NBA record books as the only player with three of them.

Crawford hopes the way he got there can impact kids watching the game and their view of stardom.  

“I’ve never made an All-Star Game, but I’ve always had my peers' and coaches' respect around the league,” Crawford said. “For me, at the end of the day, 10 years from now, 15 years from now, I’ll just wonder, ‘Will the new fan remember me? Will they remember what I did in the game?’

“Hopefully, it's in a positive nature and hopefully this is one of those things for the kids that are coming up that are 9 or 10 years old to say, ‘Hey, I don’t have to start. I can still have an impact on the bench.’ Obviously, starting is the cool thing, and everybody wants to do it. Hopefully, this can inspire a new generation of players.” 

Some of those players may be his own kids.

As Crawford finished up his final interview Tuesday afternoon, he picked up and cradled his daughter, London. One of his sons, 5-year-old JJ, shot hoops at the far end of the court, something Crawford said he brings JJ to the practice gym to do every so often.

“I didn’t force it upon him,” Crawford said. “I always ask my mom, I’m like, ‘Mom, was I…’ and she was like, ‘Yeah, you were pretty good, but you weren’t as good as he was at that age.’”

The last time Crawford won this award, JJ couldn’t comprehend it. He still doesn’t fully understand, but he knows his dad received a trophy for his skills. And Crawford said his oldest son, Eric, now in his late teens, was ecstatic – just another way this year and this award in particular perhaps means even more than his first two.

His two boys were old enough to realize, to a degree, what their father means to the game, something those who play with Crawford have realized for years.

“My teammates, they were so excited,” Crawford said. “(DeAndre Jordan) was like, ‘Man…’ – and he had tears in his eyes – and he was like, ‘I feel like I won it.’ Just to see your teammates and your peers feel that way about you and about what’s going on, it makes you feel good.”  

third-sixth-man-has-special-meaning-for-crawford

Third Sixth Man Has Special Meaning For Crawford

Q: Jamal, how have you been able to perfect the role of sixth man and continue to play at such a high level for such a long time?

“In terms of the first part of the question, I never envisioned myself being a sixth man. I had started my whole life. I actually got to Coach [Mike] Woodson in Atlanta, and he was like, ‘We have our core group in place, but your role is just as important, if not more important. So go leadthe league in scoring off the bench, we need that.’ At that point, I didn’t want to be known as agood player on bad teams. I didn’t want to be a guy who scored 20 points on a losing team. Iwanted to win. So at that point, I said I’ll change the course of my career and where it is going andI’ll be the sixth man. Then I saw the importance of it. You look over the years with [Manu] Ginobiliin San Antonio, or [James] Harden in OKC, or Jason Terry with the Dallas Mavericks, or KevinMcHale. All those great players, they believed in something bigger than themselves and justwanted to win, so that was important to me. Then for the second part of the question, just beingin love with the game. Like I said, I’ve never cheated the game. I’ve played every single day of mylife. I dreamed about being in this position, I used to listen to music and wonder if pros listened tothat music, whatever it was to be in this position, so I just don’t take it for granted.”

Q: How important is legacy to you? I know that’s a word I’ve heard you use a few times. Doeswinning this award a third time mean more because of the legacy impacts of it?

“Yeah, I think so. For me, I’ve never made an All-Star Game, but I’ve always had my peers andcoaches respect around the league. So for me at the end of the day, ten years from now, fifteenyears from now, I’ll just wonder, ‘Will the new fan remember me? Will they remember what I didin the game?’ Hopefully it is in a positive nature and hopefully this is one of those things for thekids that are coming up that are nine or 10 years old to say, ‘Hey, I don’t have to start. I can stillhave an impact on the bench.’ Obviously, starting is the cool thing, and everybody wants to do it.Hopefully, this can inspire a new generation of players.”

Q: Can you just explain to us how you are still able to look like a 25 year-old out there at thispoint in your career?

“Well, my wife makes me drink water all the time, which is hard to do. I used to drink Capri Sunsand stuff like that. It’s more about not cheating the game and being in love with the game. Theway I look at it is, if I took a lot of time off, if I took off three months or two months to try torecover, it’s almost like if you leave your house for nine months, and then you come back and tryto turn on the lights and they start popping, or the car may not start. So I figure if I keep mymuscles firing, and I just keep it going and I stay with young players, I don’t feel like age is anexcuse. I think a lot of people age themselves like, ‘Oh, I’m 35 or 38’ or whatever and they get thatin their mind and that’s where it starts. So for me, I just keep things going, keep things as young aspossible and I feel great.”

Q: You got off to a slow start this year. I believe Doc [Rivers] talked to you and told you to beaggressive at one point. How big was that? Was that a turning point in really turning it on in thelast four months or so of the season?

“It was huge for me. I honestly have so much respect for him. Before I came here, Boston was oneof the teams that had some interest in me and I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can play for Doc Rivers,he’s a champion and a winner and all that.’ Obviously I’m grown, but I have some kid-like wayssometimes. My teammates are great at [encouraging me] like, ‘Come on man, you have to turn itup, you can do it.’ I need those words of encouragement. So when Doc said, ‘I need you to bemore aggressive’ that’s what I needed to hear. He’s the best at that, he knows the pulse of theteam – not just for me but for all of our guys. He knows exactly what buttons to push or when weneed a pat on the back or when we really need to turn it up. He kind of felt that and it paid off forus.”

Q: You don’t like talking about your age much during the season, but to be the oldest guy towin this award, to win it again for a third time, does it add anything extra?

“Yeah it does, from the standpoint that I was the oldest to win it last time. So to me, I thinkconsistency is one of the keys to longevity. I think if you are consistent over the course of yourcareer, I always try to pride myself on that. I think it’s one of the keys to having longevity andhaving a long career. I just try to stay with that formula and try to stay as consistent as possibleand try to do what is asked of me and try to do it better and I think with that long-term it will pay off.”  

Sixth Man

Third Sixth Man Has Special Meaning For Crawford

Transcripts: Jamal Crawford Sixth Man Award Press Conference - 4/19/16