Minnesota Timberwolves: Jamal Crawford’s top 5 career crossovers

Minnesota Timberwolves’ guard Jamal Crawford has had an amazing 17-year career filled with tons of great crossovers, let’s take a look at the 5 best.

Think back to the year 2000. The year that brought us NSYNC and the movie Cast Away. The newest book in the Harry Potter series was The Goblet of Fire. Our fears over Y2K did not come to fruition. Personally, I was a 7-year-old in elementary school.

Jamal Crawford, on the other hand, was just starting his NBA career with the Chicago Bulls. 17 years (and six teams) later he’s still going strong. Think about this: when Crawford was playing his first NBA game, new teammates Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins were five years old.

With his longevity came consistency as well.  Over his 17 year career, he’s averaged 15.2 points per game, the majority of which he has come off the bench to score. While his handle might be legendary and his scoring off the bench is among the best in the league, he has a special talent of naming every coach he has ever played for. That would be easy for a guy like Tim Duncan, but for a guy who bounced around the league like Crawford has, it is incredibly impressive. He showed off his skills during a halftime interview as a Clipper.

Putting aside his amazing memory, J Crossover has some of the best handles in the NBA. His ability to make defenders look silly forces every team in the association to sit up and take notice when he is in the game.

Just like my piece on Andrew Wiggins top 5 dunks, it is very tough to pick just five out of a career filled with fantastic crossovers.

With entry number five, we only have to go back a little bit to his time in Los Angeles.

5. Wesley Matthews

This entry is not what many people think of when they think of a killer crossover. No one is laying on the floor. Nobody is desperately scrambling to catch up to the man applying the crossover.

Don’t worry though, this one is just as nasty as the rest.

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The whole sequence is incredibly smooth. Crawford first hits him with the behind the back move, sending Matthews skidding across the floor. And then the fun begins.

The basketball game turned into a game of chicken between the Clipper and the Blazer. You can almost see the clock ticking in Matthew’s head. Does he give J Crossover a wide open shot or go and contest and possibly give up a drive? Judging by the above video, he chose too late.

Crawford left the current Maverick in the dust for the easy layup. The only thing Matthews could do was complain to the ref that the man Jimmy Butler calls “Score Lord” carried the ball.

For this entry, we went back a couple of years. For entry number four, we go way back to Crawford’s days with the New York Knicks.

His next Victim? Deron Williams

4. Deron Williams

Looping a basketball behind your back is tough. Go out and try it right now. Maybe not right now, but after you finish this list. It is hard when you are trying to play a pickup game with your buddies, let alone at full speed during an NBA game.

Crawford makes this looks way too easy, but that is why he has a list of top five crossovers.

You will notice a theme during this list: defenders having to make very quick decisions and always making the wrong one. It happened with Wesley Matthews in the last entry and again here with Deron Williams here.

If you watch or play in the NBA, you naturally assume that the 17-year veteran is going to take the ball to the outside of the lay and probably try to finish with a floater. Crawford makes you question things. After he hits Williams with a behind the back dribble, he reverses course to the middle of the lane. To finish things off, it is a not at all easy floater over the big man.

I know it is a cliché, but watching the three-time Sixth Man of the Year work is like watching poetry in motion. Those who are not into basketball might not appreciate it, but those of us who follow the association is just astounded by it.

For our number three entry, let’s stick with his New York Knick years. This time, however, we move to an eastern conference opponent.

3. Kirk Hinrich

This play has a very similar look to our previous entry, but it so much worse.

To start out, it is a reverse of the play of Deron Williams. Instead of doing his behind the back dribble to the outside, he makes his move to the inside.

This time after the behind the back move, instead of bringing the ball behind his back again, he shows the defender the ball. Crawford gave Hinrich a little hope that he might be able to get the steal. The Knick kills any thought of a steal as he raises the ball just over the defenders hand and finishes at the rim. In the immortal words of Uncle Drew…

Crawford got Hinrich, a very good defender, looking so silly. He looked just like the confused John Travolta gif as he could only watch helplessly as his man finished at the rim.

While I have given you very good crossovers so far, I have not given you what you want. I know you want to see someone fall on the floor and look foolish. With entry number two, that is exactly what you are gonna get.

2. Ray Allen

On our fourth entry so far, we take a stop on our third team Crawford player for: the Golden State Warriors. On a player to team fit, this was a match made in heaven. Crawford is a scorer and the Warriors under head coach Don Nelson were known to win games 141-140.

Anyway, taking a look at just this play, this is just the former Michigan Wolverine doing what he does best: making people look silly.

The current Wolf sent the Wolves draft pick to the floor with a very impressive move. Crawford when from his left hand to his right hand behind his back, making Allen think he was going to drive to the basket. In one fluid move, however, he went from right to left between the legs and sent Allen to the floor.

The Celtic was just not ready, not that many people are, for a change of direction that quickly from Crawford.

This could have easily been number one on the list, and it was very close to taking the top spot. Our number one slot, however, goes to former Timberwolf Andre Miller.

1. Andre Miller

Christmas is supposed to be a happy time of year. A time where people get together and celebrate the holidays together.

Clearly, Crawford didn’t get the memo. He decided to play the part of the Grinch for the Denver Nuggets and, more specifically, Andre Miller.  

He hit Miller with the behind the back move again, something he is quite fond of. While the crossover, and the look that followed by Miller, were great, the floater was very impressive too. Putting it high off the glass against an athletic big man like Kenneth Faried is no small feat.

While most people love the gifts they receive from others on Christmas, Miller might want to return that crossover as soon as he can (just like those pajamas your grandma got you last year).

Next: Brian's breakdown: Mixing up the pick-and-roll

There you have it, the top five Jamal Crawford crossovers of his career so far. Anything I missed? Should the Ray Allen ankle breaker be number one? Let me know on Twitter @MaX_nEuHaUs.