It may take a little time for Jamal Crawford to find his rhythm with his new teammates, but it’s apparent they’re more than happy to work with the veteran.
While he gives the Brooklyn Nets a much-needed scoring option with Kevin Durant (right Achilles), Kyrie Irving (right shoulder) and Spencer Dinwiddie (team decided to hold him out after his second positive COVID-19 test) all unavailable for the leagues’ restart, his NBA experience will also help this very young group.
This will help Garrett Temple — one of two players on the Nets who’s logged five or more full NBA seasons (aside from Crawford and Michael Beasley) — as well. Now he and Joe Harris aren’t the only players on the roster who’ve been around for more than three full seasons.
And while Temple has the respect of his younger teammates, the wing views Crawford in a similar manner, which he expressed on a Zoom call on Friday per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News:
One of the best vets to ever play the game. Obviously, he’s gonna provide a scoring punch, provide a voice in the locker room that’s been around for a long time, understands how to win games. Just a great guy as well though. Keeps things light. Someone that we can bounce questions off of and things like that. Just a great guy to have around but also obviously a guy who can really provide that scoring punch for us when we need to.