06/07/2026
Crawford Told His Dad He Didn't Know Michael Jordan.🤔🤣
Jamal Crawfords Dad Told Him Michael Jordan Liked His Game. Crawford Told His Dad He Didn't Know Michael Jordan. Then Tim Grover Called at 6:30 in the Morning and Said Come Now.
Jamal Crawford was going through the draft process when his father said something he couldn't believe.
Michael Jordan liked his game.
"Dad, you don't know Michael Jordan. There's no way this is true."
He got drafted by the Bulls. Then Tim Grover called.
"It was a dream come true. At times, I still think about it now like, 'Did that really happen?' Then fast forward, I get drafted by the Bulls in 2000 after MJ retired. One morning, Tim Grover called me and said, 'Hey, MJ said you could meet him.' So I drove there at 6:30 in the morning to meet him. It was just him, Tim Grover, and myself in the weight room. I was like a fly on the wall… quiet, nervous, and would only speak when spoken to."
Three people in the weight room at 6:30am. Crawford. Grover. Jordan.
Then Crawford saw the one thing that rewired everything he thought he knew about the game.
"He was in the middle of a workout when I arrived, and I'll never forget; he was doing these defensive slide drills, and that caught my attention. I'm like, what guy is almost 40 years old doing defensive slide drills at 6 in the morning? That stuck with me. Then he took a break from his workout and was like, 'We can work out this summer together.' I was like, 'OK, cool,' and tried to not cheese too much. I never forget I left there and called everybody back home. But of course, they didn't pick up because it was 5 a.m. in Seattle."
Forty years old. Retired. Doing defensive slide drills before sunrise.
Crawford called everyone he knew. Nobody picked up. It was 5am in Seattle.
"Working out with him took my game to a whole different level because when the GOAT says he likes your game, it gives you a whole different confidence. It helped change my career and showed me what work ethic really is."
Three Sixth Man of the Year awards. Twenty seasons. One of the most gifted ball handlers the league has ever produced.