On March 21, Beijing time, former NBA player Jamal Crawford announced his retirement through his personal social media account. "Goodbye to the arena, the feeling of adrenaline rushing, and all my loot. Thanks basketball for giving me everything. Through emotional words, Crawford bid farewell to the fans to complete the game.
Crawford, 42, was selected by the Cavaliers with the 8th pick in the 2000 draft before being traded to the Bulls to start his career. He spent 20 seasons in the league, playing for the Bulls, Knicks, Warriors, Hawks, Trail Blazers, Clippers, Timberwolves, Suns and Nets. He averaged 14.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game in his career, earning more than $124 million in total, leaving many highlight moments for fans.
He played most of his career as a substitute. Of his 1,327 games, only 433 are starters. He has won the title of Best Sixth Man three times in the 09-10, 13-14 and 15-16 seasons, and is the first player in the history of the league to complete this achievement, so most Chinese fans will affectionately call him "Gram 6". Crawford's record was later tied by Louis Williams in the 18-19 season. He won the league's Teammate of the Year award in the 17-18 season.
Crawford's last appearance on the pitch goes back to the 19-20 season. At that time, the Nets suffered injuries to many players, and many players were unable to play in the rematch at The Disneyland Park in Orlando. Crawford was ordered to sign a contract with the team. He made a one-game appearance for the Nets, which became the highlight of his NBA career.
Although he has not been on the league for two years, Crawford has maintained excellent physical condition in order to return to the league at any time. During last year's offseason, he scored a total of 101 points in two amateur league games, proving that he was not old. Unfortunately, due to his age, no team was willing to provide him with a contract, and in the end Crawford could only choose to retire.
In addition, Crawford holds several records in the league.
First, he is the only player in league history to score 50+ on 4 teams, he scored 50 points for the Bulls in 2004, 52 points for the Knicks in 2007, 50 points for the Warriors in 2008, and 51 points for the Suns in 19 years;
Second, he is the oldest player in the league to cut 50+, and when the Suns cut 51 points, he was 39 years old and 20 days old, breaking Jordan's record of 38 years and 315 days;
Third, he surpassed Nick Anderson in scoring 51 points off the bench in 2019 to set a single-game scoring record for a substitute;
Fourth, Crawford is the player with the highest total score on the bench in the league's history, 11,274 of his career 19,414 points were scored as a substitute, he is also the only player in the league's history to contribute 11,000+ points from the bench, and the other is the warriors star Curry's father, Dale Curry;
Fifth, Crawford is the most "four-pointer" player in the history of the league, and he has completed a total of 55 "four-pointers" in the regular season and 5 in the playoffs.
In addition, three-pointers are also Crawford's strong points, and he has hit a total of 2221 three-pointers in his career, currently ranking eighth in league history.
(Text/Yuwen Basketball)