PROFESSIONAL: Jamal was the eighth pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2000 NBA Draft. He was traded to the Chicago Bulls on June 28, 2000. Jamal became only the third Bulls player in history to score 50 points or more in an overtime game on April 11, 2004 in Toronto. Jamal played in 144 games and averaged 11.2 points a game throughout his four seasons in Chicago. He earned the player of the month award twice during his last season with the Bulls. Jamal was traded to the New York Knicks on August 4, 2004. He averaged a career-high 20.6 points per game during the 2007-08 season with the Knicks. On January 26, 2007, he scored a career-high 52 points, hitting 16 shots in a row at one point. Jamal was traded to the Golden State Warriors on November 21, 2008. He became the 4th player in NBA history to score 50 points or more with 3 different teams (Chicago, New York, Golden State). On June 25, 2009, the Atlanta Hawks acquired Jamal. He scored his 10,000th career point on February 21, 2010 vs. the Golden State Warriors. On February 25, 2010, he set an NBA record by completing his 28th career 4-point play becoming the NBA’s all-time leader (surpassing Reggie Miller’s 24). In his first postseason action of his career, Jamal averaged 16.3ppg and 2.7apg in 11 playoff appearances. Jamal received the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award for the 2009-10 season, becoming the first Atlanta Hawk to receive the honor.
COLLEGE: In his first and only year at Michigan, Jamal scored a career high 27 points in two different games and averaged a team high 16.6 points per game as a Wolverine.
PHILANTHROPY: In 2004, Jamal established the Jamal Crawford Foundation (www.jamalcrawford.org) to provide inner-city children with experiences and activities to strengthen both their minds and bodies leading to well-rounded adults. Through several events during the year, as well as annual summer basketball camps, his foundation has provided ongoing support for athletic trainers at Seattle Public High Schools by donating money, medical supplies and purchasing heart defibrillators for each school. During the summer of 2006, Jamal teamed up with fellow NBA player Rashard Lewis to host a Celebrity Softball Weekend in Seattle, WA. The 2-day event raised $50,000 to benefit children from 12 Boys & Girls Clubs in the Seattle area. Thanks to Jamal, his high school alma mater, Rainier Beach, renovated the gymnasium with a new basketball court named “Crawford Court”. During the 2010-11 season, for every 3-pointer Jamal makes, the foundation will donate $25 to the purchase of heart defibrillators for Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Atlanta. Jamal made a generous donation to the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta helping launch their first weekend youth basketball league in Spring 2011.
PERSONAL: Aaron Jamal Crawford was born March 20, 1980. After an outstanding senior season at Rainier Beach High School, Jamal was named to Parade Magazine’s All-American team. In 2000, Rainier Beach retired Jamal’s number 23 jersey. As an NBA rookie Jamal kept all his clocks on Pacific Time to have a constant reminder of the time in Seattle.
