Veteran NBA sixth man Jamal Crawford hasn't gone out gambling with the guys in over ten years, and for good reason. In an editorial published in The Undefeated this week, award-winning sports columnist Mike Wise profiles the maturation of the 36-year-old Clippers point guard over the course of his 17 seasons in the league. From new wealth to old wisdom, the article covers some of the poor choices Crawford had to rebound from early on in his career, with one particular event nearly costing him his life. Fear that an off-court tragedy could in an instance erase the year 2000 first round draft pick's future became real when former agent, Aaron Goodwin, received a call warning that Crawford would be killed if he did not pay a debt owed to a professional gambler.
As the story goes, Crawford was still early in his start with the Chicago Bulls when during a night out with Ray Allen the young ball players decided on going to shoot some craps. There was nothing particularly alarming about the venture, as players have been known to frequent such activities in their youth. According to Wise, they'd find themselves at Michael Jordan's One Sixtyblue restaurant, putting down big money amidst some of the world's most habitual high rollers that evening. And Crawford would find himself betting big into the next evening as well, allegedly having borrowed some tens of thousands of dollars from MJ himself, in an attempt to break even, as his bill surpassed the equivalent of the average American's yearly salary.
After spending two days throwing dice, Crawford walked away without his Mercedes, and he still owed an estimated $100,000. Wise details how Goodwin hadn't understood how urgent the matter was until the caller reportedly told him, “No, you don’t understand. If he doesn’t pay now, these guys will kill Jamal,” to which he freaked out, responding: “Kill Jamal?!! He’s an NBA player. He gets paid as soon as the season starts.” Thanks to a phone call and a bit of negotiation on the agent's part, Crawford was able to set up a payment plan and escape a conflict.
Source: uproxx.com
