Jamal Crawford Halftime Interview During D-League Select Game

Jamal Crawford did an interview at halftime of the D-League select game with Mike Smith. I'm just seeing the game now (I had a busy weekend), so I'm just seeing the interview now.

For all the speculation that a lot of people have attached to Jamal's recent twitter activity, this should be able to provide some peace of mind.

Brian Seiman:

We are lucky to be joined by one of the mainstays to last years squad, a guy that quickly endeared himself to Clipper Nation on opening night, and we're lucky to have him back again, please welcome Jamal Crawford on the phone.

And Jamal, as you take a look at what has happened since the playoff loss against Memphis, and this team is gonna look a little bit difference, tell me about your thoughts on these new additions and the upcoming season.

Jamal Crawford:

You know, honestly, it feels like a different team. I think, uh, a lot of people are excited, I'm just kind of taking a one day at a time approach because of, you know, we had a lot of success last year, and, you know, we ended so abruptly that, you know, when things like that happen, I think that change is always a good- yeah, and necessary in some ways. And we lost a lot of good pieces, obviously, from Chauncey and Bledsoe and Caron but we gained some good pieces as well. You know, so, obviously, we lost Coach Del Negro, and got Doc, so I think Clipper Nation has a lot to be excited about.

Mike Smith:

Jamal, you had such a marvelous season last year, at age 32, I was really disappointed you didn't get named to an All-Star team which I thought you belonged on, you did not win the 6th man of the year award which I thought you should have won... exactly, with how many games you actually helped that Clipper team win coming off the bench and how many 20 point games you scored. I'm curious, with these changes, at age 33, how do you prepare differently in this off-season? Do you change your game a little bit? Do you still do the same thing? And then tell me about, if you have a relationship with Doc Rivers at all to this point.

JC:

Well, to answer the first part. For me, I don't know why, I just feel like I'm getting better. You know, I think I've learned more over time, I think playing the 6th man role the last four years has definitely helped prolong my career. Also not playing much my first four years in the league, and not having, like, deep playoff runs, I feel like I'm in my prime right now. And obviously I think when you have this many players everybody has to sacrifice a little bit, especially with minutes and shots and stuff like that. But if you're really about winning- I think that's what it's all about. But I'm curious to see how it all works too, honestly. I mean, we lost the season like we did, but we had some peices and Doc has a totally different philosophy, you know, than other coaches, and I talked to him, and he said he wants my role to be exactly the same, to put me in and do what I do for the most part, you know, and uh, you know, he wants me to work on catch-and-shoot a little bit more, and just be ready to have fun.

Then they talk for a couple minutes about Seattle and Jamal's Pro-Am.