Jamal Crawford, the NBA’s three-time …

Jamal Crawford, the NBA’s three-time sixth man of the year, played for the Clippers under both regimes. He sent WUSA9 a video Monday thanking Ballmer for not just his generosity but his social conscience. “You’ve always cared about the right things in life,” Crawford says into his iPad camera. “Even as the years went on, you didn’t just care about things pertaining to what your interests might be. You care about everybody, and that says a lot. Keep doing the work you’re doing and I’m proud to call you a friend.”

Just don’t expect him to get involved …

Just don’t expect him to get involved with the Knicks’ current situation. While the league’s most popular team in its biggest market is 4-19 this season — and on its way to missing the playoffs for the seventh straight year and 13th out of 16 — Silver told WFAN Radio in New York last week that he will be hands off. Here is the exact quote, with transcription via Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “I wouldn’t. It’s not my role,” Silver said Thursday on WFAN. “Of course, I work for 30 teams. And the 29 other teams want to beat that team. That’s not to say me getting involved (would be good) and that I’m in any better position to know what to do. We set the rules. And then we try to have a level playing field for the teams to compete.”