An Ode To Steez - Who Just Signed With The Xinjiang Flying Tigers

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/an-ode-to-jordan-crawford--a-k-a-steez--the-nba-s-latest-export-to-china-164136448.html



An ode to Jordan Crawford, a.k.a Steez, the NBA's latest export to China
Ben Rohrbach By Ben Rohrbach
6 hours ago
Ball Don't Lie



Jordan Crawford blew our minds from the moment he entered the NBA conciousness, unleashing a dunk so fierce on LeBron James at a Skills Academy bearing the four-time MVP's name that Nike tried to confiscate all evidence of the public shaming.

A court jester fooled the king, huzzah.

http://zippy.gfycat.com/LinedPleasantAltiplanochinchillamouse.webm


That was as a college sophomore at Xavier, where Crawford described the classroom as "a waiting room" for his weird basketball moments, like the first of many, so many, too many — way too many — ridiculous shots that somehow found the bottom of the net.

This one came from 35 feet down three with five seconds left in overtime of a first-round NCAA Tournament game. It was magical, and came in a loss, as is Crawford's custom.




This shot bolstered a swagger that spawned a sublime two-game span late in his rookie season — 39 points on 24 shots against the Heat and a 21-10-11 triple-double on the Cavaliers — and Crawford's philosophy: "You know, I always feel if I can see the basket it's a good shot."

He left us scratching our heads, as he did in explaining his still-standing Twitter bio — "On a Mission to become the GREATEST!!!!!!! WHY NOT?" — to The Washington Post's Michael Lee.

"I don't tell nobody, but I feel like I can be better than Michael Jordan," Crawford said, without the slightest hint of sarcasm. "When I'm done playing, I don't want people to say, Michael Jordan is the best player. I want that to be me. That's how I am. That's how I was built."

Um, what? You realize people will look at you sideways and think you're crazy for saying that, right?

"Yeah, I know that, I definitely know that. But I'm not settling for anything less," Crawford said. "I feel like I'm better than him, anyway. My mom is going to say I'm better than him."

Jordan Crawford was 23 years old when Steez was born, and the legend only grew.

Of his first NBA paycheck, Crawford remembered "how long it took for us to get 'em. It was like a month into the season before we really got it. ... I was like, 'This ain't enough. We need more coming in.' ... That's when I first started asking questions about taxes. Up until then, I used to act like I knew what taxes was and all that, but when it starts hitting my checks, that's when I start asking questions."

For a moment, during his third season — when he messed around for another triple-double against a Hawks team that traded him to the Wizards as a rookie — it seemed like those checks might get bigger. Two months later, benched for a shot selection that resulted in career percentages of 40.5 from the field and 30.6 from 3, he was yawning on the pine and dealt to the Celtics for two guys who would play a total of 54 minutes in Washington. He was 24.

Crawford played sparingly under Doc Rivers for a C's team in desperate need of offense, submitting two career playoff highlights: 1) Reminding Carmelo Anthony about Kevin Garnett's infamous "Honey Nut Cheerios" remark after a DNP, and 2) Practicing in weed socks.


Jordan Crawford wore weed socks to a playoff practice while with the Celtics.


Crawford enjoyed a resurgence under Brad Stevens during the first half of this past season, even earning Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors in December, and somehow the Celtics turned him into three second-round picks in a deal with the Warriors. (Actually, two of those could be a first-rounder if the 76ers make the playoffs in 2014-15, but let's not kid ourselves.) In the end, Crawford turned out to be the Cooper Manning of Golden State's Splash Brothers.

The Twitter bio that professes his desire to be greater than Jordan also reads, "Wherever the Grind take me," and the grind take him to China, according to reports surfacing Thursday. So, the kid who once wrapped an American flag scarf around his head during a postgame interview is headed abroad in a move that was lost on the same NBA conciousness he once captivated.

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Of course, China has embraced Stephon Marbury, a man who once ate Vaseline on a live internet stream, and we can only hope a play is one day written and starring Crawford.

Here's to those taxes being better overseas, Steez.




bob



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He couldn't stick on an NBA rpster? Interesting. I can think of some teams that could use a shooter.



KJ

Andray Blatche just signed with The Flying Tigers too.

For those of you who don't know where Xinjiang is:


https://www.google.com/maps/place/Xinjiang,+China/@41.7584224,84.9442746,5z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x3806008cfd7b4dab:0xa84116ec366707a1


It is in the middle of nowhere, mostly Islamic.  The capital city of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, and where the Flying Tigers play, is Urumqi.  The population of Urumqi is 3.3 million.  That qualifies it as a town, in China.  They have more cities with 5 million people that you've never heard of than you can even imagine.  By comparison, the population of the city of Chicago (not suburbs) is 2.7 million.  Boston (not including Cambridge and suburbs) is 646,000.  Los Angeles, proper, is 3.9 million.  The Chinese have 15 cities with more than 5 million and over 20 with 3-5 million.  NYC would be the seventh biggest city, if it was in China.  Urumqi, if it was in the US, would be 3rd.



bob


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I guess the reputation that Blatche had followed him. It seemed that he was going to stick around in the NBA, but as the year went on he just fizzled. As far as Jordan Crawford goes, he is the master of his own ship. Shot selection was enough to make you pull your hair out, even when they went in. Amazing

Rosalie

I guess he just kept shooting and making them......because he could.  There was probably nothing in his past that even hinted at the concept of shot selection.  And yet he was far from the best passer.  Not the kind of guy I could ever see contributing dependably for a contender.

Sam

He's a bit too much of a loose cannon. There's nothing wrong with being a streaky shooter, just make sure that it's a good shot.



KJ