That’s the thing about the crossover: Sometimes you have to do a move just to set him up for another move.”Ĭrawford completed the play by finding then-teammate Stephen Jackson open in the corner for a three-pointer. “He had sat there on the first two moves,” Crawford said while watching the clip on a computer at the Clippers’ practice facility, “so I knew I was going to pull it back because he was still with me on the initial crossover. Crawford dribbles between his legs, behind his back and then behind his back again, with the final move forcing Allen to stumble helplessly to the court. His favorite is one from five years ago in which Ray Allen steps up to guard him on the perimeter. Many of Crawford’s best crossovers are documented on YouTube clips accompanied by breathless comments. Crawford froze Sefolosha with a moment’s hesitation before breaking into a between-the-legs dribble that allowed him to drive for a pull-up jumper. “He’s got a lot of tricks,” said Oklahoma City guard Thabo Sefolosha, who was victimized on one of Crawford’s crossovers in the third quarter Tuesday night at Staples Center. If the defense converges on him, Crawford can pass to an open teammate. He needs only a smidgen of space for a jumper or a drive to the basket. He constantly scans the players behind his primary defender, anticipating how a play might develop once he gets past his man.
Ambidextrous since infancy, he can fake out defenders going to his left or his right, though he has found that teams often shade him as if he prefers going to his right. “What he does, you know it’s coming and you know which way he’s going and you always get lulled to sleep.”Ĭrawford’s crossover is largely a function of quickness, deception and crafty ballhandling. “When you can handle the ball like a point guard and play against ‘two’ guards, it’s special,” Oklahoma City Thunder Coach Scott Brooks said. Of course, none of them are 6-foot-5 shooting guards, as Crawford is. Clippers point guard Chris Paul has several wicked moves, as do the Brooklyn Nets’ Deron Williams and Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose. His creativity in terms of handling the basketball is off the charts.”Ĭrawford, 32, is hardly the only NBA player who has mastered the crossover. “You want to find a better word in your vocabulary to express how extraordinary his ballhandling skills are in terms of being able to get anywhere out on the floor that he needs to get to and also to create a shot. “To say it’s extremely impressive is an understatement,” said Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas, one of the inspirations for Crawford’s crossover dribble. Grant Hill dubs his array of moves “The Barbecue Pit” because Crawford is constantly cooking his defender. Chauncey Billups calls Crawford “The Mechanic” because he’s always fixing people up with his ability to create space for jumpers or drives toward the basket.
The move has spawned the Twitter handle and a legion of nicknames from his teammates. It’s also one of the reasons he has scored 50 points or more in a game with three NBA teams. Smith and a front-runner for the league’s sixth man of the year award. “When I have the ball,” he said, “I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do, so there’s no way the guy on me knows what I’m going to do.”Ĭrawford is always reading and reacting to the defense, his signature move helping him become the NBA’s second-leading bench scorer this season behind New York’s J.R. Often, the veteran Clippers guard will combine multiple moves in a blur of activity that resembles something out of a Harlem Globetrotters routine.ĭon’t bother guessing which move he will go to next. Or hesitate before accelerating toward the basket. Dribble behind his back or between his legs. He can fake to his left and go to his right. Jamal Crawford’s crossover dribble is a straight-up pain to those who try to stop it. It’s the move that twists ankles, crushes spirits and confounds even the sharpest of defensive minds.