Last time we heard from Jordan Crawford (in the regular season), he was dropping 41 points for the Warriors in the final contest of the 2013-14 season. He’s always been a maniacal chucker, and that game was the ultimate realization of his chuckiness. There was no turning back after that; either a team would give him starter minutes and let him score 22 a game, or he wouldn’t be in the league at all.
Side note: I’m looking at the Warriors roster and freaking out. Only Curry, Thompson, and Green remain today. Remember Hilton Armstrong? Nemanja Nedovic? MarShon Brooks OGNJEN KUZMIC? Frickin’ Steve Blake is there. I think I blocked that part of the Warriors dynasty out of my mind.
Anyway, we know what happened to Crawford after that: he bounced around China, the D-League, and preseason rosters. The usual route for a chucker who isn’t quite good enough for the NBA. Except that Crawford isn’t the usual D-League chucker. He has proven many times in the NBA that he can chuck with the best of them. Most of these D-League supposed “chuckers” don’t even chuck when they get to the NBA, thinking that by deferring, they will impress their coaches. Foolishness! Crawford knows that the NBA is about buckets and buckets only.
The Pelicans, desperate for talent, signed him to a 10-day, and their confidence in him immediately paid dividends. 19 points on 15 shots, more than anyone not named Davis or Cousins, in only 20 minutes. That’s how you frickin’ do it right there. Don’t play scared. You have only 10 days to make your mark, and Crawford knows exactly one way of doing that. By chucking the heck out of the ball.