We lost Jamal Crawford just as quickly as we got him back in the NBA.
The 40-year old guard made his debut for the 2019-20 season on Tuesday with the Brooklyn Nets in their game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
It was a treat to finally see him playing basketball again. It put an end to all of confusion as to why he hadn’t played a single minute up until this point.
Dropping 50 points in a single NBA game is not an easy feat. It’s something we rarely see, even in today’s game where it’s all offense all the time. That’s why it was a moment when Jamal Crawford dropped 51 points in the Suns’ final game of last season. And it wasn’t like it was 51 points on 50 shots — it was good! All this at 39 years old.
Sure, he’s 40 now. But, clearly, he had more to give. Tuesday was his chance to prove he could still play and he proved it — at least for a few minutes.
He made his 2019-20 season debut with the Nets on Tuesday and was immediately impactful.
For his first bucket, he drained this three.
Welcome back, @JCrossover 🔥 pic.twitter.com/bAeKyjWcdF
— NBA TV (@NBATV) August 4, 2020
And dished off this slick pass.
Jamal Crawford making plays 🔥 pic.twitter.com/8UGbqqe4Vs
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) August 4, 2020
Oh, and this one too.
🙌👀
Jamal Crawford is back in the NBA and dropping DIMES! pic.twitter.com/LECGBCHsRd
— NBA (@NBA) August 4, 2020
Within his first five minutes of play, he scored 3 points and dished out three assists.
Unfortunately, as impactful as his debut was, it was also just as short. Khris Middleton stepped on Crawford’s foot and apparently injured his hamstring, sending him to the locker room after just a few minutes.
Khris Middleton stepped on Jamal Crawford's foot, Crawford limped off the floor pic.twitter.com/U8uXZrXDAN
— CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) August 4, 2020
The Nets eventually ruled him out for the game and, after just getting Crawford back on the court, we had already lost him.
Fans were so upset. Not just because he’s injured, but because this might actually be the last we see of him.
So sad. I’m not sure we’re gonna see Jamal Crawford again this season
— Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) August 4, 2020
Jamal Crawford was just starting to put in work and then he cooked his damn hammy. pic.twitter.com/Ptj53i7iqH
— Marcus Matthews (@GOOCHAVELI) August 4, 2020
NOOOOO NOT JAMAL CRAWFORD
— drewski (@DrewFearon) August 4, 2020
Damn and just like that Jamal Crawford injured out for the game pic.twitter.com/f59DC6Dh15
— puma (@Puma213) August 4, 2020
Jamal Crawford (left hamstring) out the rest of the game… 😩
— Michael Grady (@Grady) August 4, 2020
After two decades in the game, this would be the worst possible way to go out. Hopefully, it’s not too bad and this isn’t the end of Jamal Crawford’s NBA career.
Either way, it was good to see Crawford back hooping again. Even if it was just for a few minutes.
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