Allen Iverson is Right to Deny the D-League

Allen Iverson's future never included the D-League. (bleacherreport.com)

Allen Iverson crossed over Michael Jordan and scored roughly 24,368 points over a 14-season spread in the NBA. A 13-time All-Star, Iverson is also a basketball pariah worldwide refusing to accept a smaller role during his last stateside contract and leaving Turkish club Besiktas to undergo calf surgery, never to return and play out the remainder of his two-year, multi-million-dollar contract. He is still holding out for another shot on an NBA court that will likely not ever appear. In spite of his hopes – and his checkered history – Iverson’s recent dismissal of the Texas Legends’ offer to join them in the D-League is no surprise.

Iverson, like most professional athletes, has a high opinion of himself. One almost must to perform on such a large stage. Though it may look like hubris (and rightly so), his move to turn down the Legends’ offer was the right one to make. The team – the Dallas Mavericks’ D-League affiliate co-owned by Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson – has made splashy signings since its inception in 2010, having rostered players such as Greg Ostertag, Dan Gadzuric and Chris Douglas-Roberts and recently employing Rashad McCants and Delonte West (who reneged on his deal). Several of these players have earned 10-day contracts based on their play with the Legends including 37-year-old point guard Mike James, who parlayed his second 10-day bid into a guaranteed contract with the Mavs.

James’ name doesn’t carry the stigma of the 37-year-old the Legends tried to scoop last week, though. Iverson is a former MVP and scoring champion. He also led the league in steals for two seasons, in 2002-03 and 2004-05. But he has always been a high-usage player and a volume shooter, getting his career average of 26.7 ppg by making 9.3 shots on 21.8 attempts per game. Moreover, Iverson is an underwhelming three-point shooter (his career-best 36 percent came in 2009-10 when he attempted only 25 triples) and unless the man who once berated the idea of practice has changed that, he is not a reliable spot-up option. Iverson has not played professional basketball in two years and, in a comeback, he would be forced to get open shots by relying on speed, a formerly consistent tool in his arsenal that is surely fleeting due to age, injuries and time away from the professional game.

By accepting and admitting his past mistakes while turning down the Legends last week, Iverson showed a maturity that was missing as recently as 2010. While some don’t believe Iverson’s presence would help theD-League or the NBA at large, there are sects of fans who believe Iversonshould still be playing in the Association. Signing with the Legends under the guise that it could accelerate his return to the NBA would be unfair to his diehard followers and to Iverson himself.


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D-League Decoded: Welcome to the Small Show

The Texas Legends pursuing Allen Iverson was one of the biggest D-League stories of the week. (usatoday.com)

Hello readers of Beats, Dimes and Drives. My name is Dakota Schmidt and I'm addicted to basketball. Sure, most of you are also addicted to the sport since you're reading this site, but I'm a little different. You see while most people like the Heat, Thunder or Clippers, I personally like watching the Bucks, Bobcats and the NBA D-League. If you don't know, the D-League is the NBA's minor league where players develop and teams feature creative names like the Mad Ants, Red Claws, Skyforce and — of course — the Bighorns. Yes, the D-League has been around for more than 10 years, but this is quite possibly the greatest season yet with better teams and a vastly improved pool of players. With that said, the D-League is still kind of a hidden commodity so I'm going to take you on a little tour of the best stories from the past week in the NBADL.

1. Rumors that the Texas Legends would be going after Allen Iverson
Around Monday morning, ESPN's Marc Stein reported that the Texas Legends were going after former NBA MVP point guard Allen Iverson, who hasn't played in the United States since his '09-'10 stint with the 76ers. The 37-year-old declined the invite from the Legends after stating on his Twitter account that he thinks that the D-League is a great opportunity for players, but he wanted to complete his "legacy" in the NBA.

I do understand that Iverson would want to go straight into the NBA because he was one of the most popular players in the first half of the 2000's. With that said, it's 2013 and teams aren't really looking forward to acquiring a player in his late 30's when they really don't know how he could still produce after not playing in the league for three seasons.

Iverson's refusal to join the Legends leaves the door wide open for former D-League MVP Justin Dentman, who was acquired last week from the Austin Toros. Dentman may be familiar to NBA fans because he had separate stints last season with the Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs, but he has really made his mark in the D-League, where he helped lead the Toros to a title last season. Dentman is perhaps one of the top scoring guards in the league with a solid mid-range shot and a quick first step that helps him drive to the basket.

2. Toko Shengelia's Monster Night
The young Brooklyn Nets prospect straight out of the country Georgia has seen very limited minutes in his rookie year, which has allowed him to have two separate stints with the Springfield Armor. Springfield has one of the worst records in the D-League, but they were the center of the universe this past weekend simply because of the play of the 6'10" Shengelia. In Friday's game against the Maine Red Claws, Shengelia possibly had the best performance by any player in the D-League this season when he put up a 39 points and 18 rebounds.

While Maine did have a good crop of forwards (Chris Wright, Micah Downs and Fab Melo), Shengelia basically chewed them up and spit them out by being a fiend on the boards and working his mid-range shot to perfection. It's unclear how many times Shengelia will be assigned back to the Armor this season, but it is clear that it will most definitely be must-watch action if he is reassigned.

3. Royce White to the D-League?
The long-winded controversy between first-round pick Royce White and the Houston Rockets appears to be over as White is scheduled to debut with Houston's affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, on Feb. 11. The Rockets have been one of the best teams when it comes to using their D-League counterpart after sending players like Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas and Patrick Beverly to the team so far this season. The main issue between White and the Rockets front office has been White's fear of anything involving flight, which is odd because the D-League flies commercial airlines rather than the private airlines of the NBA.

I've stated my personal opinions about White on my Twitter account, but I think his stint with Rio Grande Valley will prove how important his future as a basketball player really is. Royce's skills are undeniable and he should have a good career in the NBA, but there will always be questions about if he's going to be focused more on his battle with anxiety than with his play on the court.

4. Potential D-League PGs that could replace Rajon Rondo
This past Sunday it was reported that Boston Celtics All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo would miss the rest of the season because of a torn ACL, which only hurts a team that's already fighting to stay in the playoffs. Boston does have a wide variety of combo guards like Avery Bradley, Jason Terry and Leandro Barbosa, but none of those guys are really a pure PG.

The D-League has a wide variety of point guards that official D-League blogger Kevin Scheitrum wrote a piece about earlier this week. The first player that stands out at me has to be Delonte West because he's an NBA veteran who has also played multiple seasons under Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. While he's had a troubled career, West is still a talented player and is definitely worth at least a 10-day contract.

While the rest of the D-League PGs don't have the experience of West, there are still a wide variety of players Boston can choose from. For example, Courtney Fortson of the Los Angeles D-Fenders — the  No. 1 D-League prospect — is the type of high energy player the Celtics could use to energize their squad. Fortson is improving both as a scorer (19.1 PPG) and as a distributer (6.5 APG) while also pulling down 5.3 RPG, which is outstanding when you look at the fact that he's 5'11".

Some other notable PG's in the D-League include Donald Sloan, Andre Barrett, Sean Singletary and Ben Uzoh. Both Sloan and Singletary have experience playing in the NBA and are similar players because they're solid distrubters and are solid shooters. Barrett has been around both the NBA and the D-League since the early days of the league and he's probably the best passer in all of the NBADL. Like Rondo, Andre is never going to be the best shooter around, but he is notching 11.3 assists per game while playing with the Celtics-affiliated Maine Red Claws. That is key, as Barrett would be able to make the smooth transition between leagues because Boston and Maine run similar systems. Last but not least, former Nets guard Ben Uzoh has been one of the top prospects in the league all season long simply because he can do anything on the court from leading an offense to being one of the best rebounders in the league for a guy his size (6'3", 205 lbs.).

5. Rise of DaJuan Summers
Former Pistons/Hornets forward DaJuan Summers has been of the more pleasant surprises in the D-League so far with the Red Claws. Now of course people know about his talent since his college days with Georgetown, but he's really exploded as the third forward on that Red Claws team. The team was going into the season expecting things out of Micah Downs and Chris Wright, and they have definitely produced in their roles but Summers has been the standout player since being signed in early December. Recently DaJuan had a career night against the Springfield Armor where he put up 34 points and 10 rebounds but only to get out-shined by Toko Shengelia who had that outstanding game I previously talked about.

DaJuan might not be the best player you've ever seen play but he's really worth taking the time out of your schedule to take a look at him like a lot of the other talent in the D-League.

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The BDD Interview: Cormega, part 1

The BDD interview series was conceived with the intention of getting opinions on basketball and basketball culture from the perspectives of those outside the game's typical realm. For the inaugural edition, we reached out to Queensbridge rapper Cormega to discuss his hometown New York Knicks, which QB streetballers could beat Ron Artest pre-Metta World Peace, and the NBA player with the best rap career. Don't forget to read part two.

Photo courtesy of Cormega

What was your introduction to the game?

Growing up in the inner city, basketball is a part of our culture. I always expect that, if you ask any kid from the inner city, they’ll tell you that. There’s just something cool about guys who play basketball because of the way they handle themselves. They’re cool. I think the first name that stood out that I remember is Dr. J. Like that name “Dr. J” was like, that was awesome, you know what I’m saying? Like, "Dr. J! Dr. J!" It ain’t until I got older that I realized how great or how good he was on the court, but when I was younger, the name Dr. J, you just heard it. It echoed and resonated. As I got older, I just got into it and I loved it. I’ve been a Knicks fan since forever. My favorite Knick – the first Knick that really drew me in – was Bernard King.

Did you ever play basketball growing up? I know there’s some footage of you playing in a celebrity game with Allen Iverson a few years back.

Yeah, obviously I played a little ball if you seen the two NBA three-pointers I hit in that video. I used to play basketball, I played with [New York City AAU program] Riverside Hawks when I was little for a little while and I played in some other tournaments back in the day, but I’m not going to sit here and lie in the interview like I was destined for NBA stardom if I didn’t rap. I done shot ball. I wasn’t MJ. I wasn’t nothing to write home about. I always loved it, wished I was better than I was, but there was definitely a lot of guys better than me. I developed a wicked jump shot, though, that could compete with a lot of good guys, and I’ve just been a fan.

People live and die by the jumper. They can make careers out of it.

I’ve got a wicked jump shot. I can brag about that.

On your track “The Legacy” (warning for younger viewers, explicit lyrics) one of the lyrics is “Wee-Wop was the illest ball player.” Who was Wee-Wop? I assume this is basketball related.

He was a streetball player from Queensbridge and I believe he went to college, also. His name was Warren Walker. He died; incredibly talented. Ron-Ron [Metta World Peace, formerly Ron Artest] is a testament of hard work. Ron-Ron wasn’t even the best basketball player in Queensbridge, you know what I’m saying? The streets is so alluring that there’s people that was actually better than Ron-Ron and they decided to sell drugs. They wasn’t as dedicated as Ron-Ron, that’s why I say he is a testament to hard work. Ron-Ron could be outside shooting the ball when it’s raining, when it’s snowing. He worked to get where he’s at. There was a guy named Troy Battle who, say, if we were playing a pick-up game of basketball 15 years ago and Ron and Troy were standing there and if you had the first pick, you would have picked Troy without a shadow of a doubt. You see what I’m saying? Troy hustled. A lot of the guys that’s out of the hood, they hustle and they didn’t follow they dreams because the streets have a magnetic allure to it. Wee-Wop is one of those guys [who] just died, though. He went to college, and he was incredible. There was also a guy, Mark Morris, from our block. He went to Tulsa, I believe. He was good, but he was on Tulsa before Tulsa was Division I, before they got all the love like they get now. If he would have been on Tulsa when they had the spotlight, he probably could have made it to the NBA. He was just that good. There was another guy named Hi-C, who was so good I can’t even describe him because you’ll think I’m exaggerating. I’ve never seen nothing like this. But he was in the street. There’s a lot of guys in the streets who were some incredible guys. Some of them you never see them unless you go to a game like the Rucker and then you’ll see some guys and you’ll be like, “Damn, who the hell is this guy?” [There are lots of] guys like that that didn’t follow their dreams or didn’t make it for some odd reason, but they’re just good and not in the NBA.

You mentioned Tulsa and a bunch of guys who went and played college ball. Do you follow college ball, too, or do you just follow the NBA?

I follow college ball, but not as much as I used to. I lost some of my love for college once guys started leaving after one season and stuff. It’s exciting, but it’s not like it used to be. I’m a Tar Heels fan, though. I’ve been a Tar Heels fan since James Worthy and [Michael] Jordan and them. I like college ball, but the integrity of the game in college basketball is different now. I tend to like women’s college basketball more sometimes. They put their heart and their souls through war. You have a guy that’s incredible, but it’s like you can see it in their eyes. It’s like, “I’m only here because I have to be here for one semester. Next year, I’m out. I’m going to the NBA.” That’s what it feels like.

It’s like the Coach [John] Calipari system at Kentucky. That doesn’t exactly apply to women’s college basketball.

Exactly.

And the Tar Heels are having a down year, but they have a good lineage with Jordan, [Jerry] Stackhouse and Vince Carter, who came out of there, too.

They got my man Rasheed Wallace and they’ve got a lot of people out of there. I mean, Raymond Felton came out [of North Carolina]. They’re just a consistently good program. I’ve been liking them forever. I’ve just stuck with them. That’s the team that I’ve kept. Even if there’s another team that I admire, the Tar Heels is my team, just like in the NBA the Knicks is my team, but there’s other teams that I like. If you follow my tweets, every year I give my predictions of who’s a sleeper team and I’m often right. I think in the future I’m going to try to be some kind of sports writer or something like that with basketball because I be saying stuff and I be making predictions and I be right. Also, I be knowing some inside scoops that people don’t be knowing way ahead of people because I know people in the NBA, like I told people that Mike Bibby was coming to the Knicks before he came. A lot of stuff. If you look at my Twitter, dudes is actually like, “OK, Mega, I fuck with you, but now you’re going a little bit too far. I can’t believe that.” Then everything I said was true because I know guys in the NBA. I know coaches, I know assistant coaches, I know players, so there’s stuff that I be knowing before everybody. It’s just funny.

I do follow some of your tweets. I loved the “'Sheed is 'Sheed” tweet from earlier this season.

Which one?

The one where you said you told guys that 'Sheed was 'Sheed. It was when he came back and I think it was the first or second game he suited up for the Knicks this year.

It’s like this: people have to understand basketball. If you’re a fan of a team, it’s one thing, but you have to be a fan of the game to understand the game. There’s a difference between understanding the game and being a fan. Some people who don’t understand basketball are like... When we got Jason Kidd, I was ecstatic. People were like, “Ah, man, we’re old. The Knicks are old,” and I’m like, “Yo, you don’t understand basketball.” Jason Kidd is the Brett Favre of basketball. Even when he gets older, his brain mechanics supercede his athletic mechanics. Jason Kidd probably has the highest basketball IQ in the NBA. He’s just that smart. And Rasheed… One of things about Rasheed is -- if you follow the game -- Rasheed has an extremely high IQ, but people overlook that because they always look at the technicals, etc., etc. Two things about Rasheed: he has a very high basketball IQ, and then he has a streetball persona. He knows how to get under guys’ skin. He’s the only guy I’ve seen that would fuck with Shaq’s head, get under Dwight Howard’s skin, so with them players that we got, I was extremely happy and people thought I was all crazy, but now look, everybody’s like, “You was right, Mega. You was right.” I love 'Sheed. 'Sheed is just dope. 'Sheed can post up, he has a three-point game, he plays defense and he’s ball smart. What the hell else you want?

'Sheed, all around, is good. I figure it’s safe to say you like the current Knicks line-up.

I love it. I think this might be one of the best line-ups we’ve ever had. Ever.

What do you think of Amar’e Stoudemire coming back? Do you think that’s going to throw off the chemistry at all?

That’s another thing. People are not fans of the game; they’re not using their brain. Everybody’s quick to say that ‘Melo [Anthony] and Amar’e didn’t play well together. No, that was under [former Knicks and current Lakers coach Mike] D’Antoni. Carmelo and nobody didn’t play well together with D’Antoni. They was 8-2 under [current coach Mike] Woodson. So now Amar’e’s back and he’s working his way back into the line-up. The most honorable and smart thing he did was say, “I’m willing to come off the bench,” so now that he’s coming off the bench, he’s not going to interrupt the chemistry because they’re going to work him in slowly and if Amar’e gets back to form, we’re going to be one of the most formidable teams in the NBA because you’d be hardpressed to find a forward that’s going to come off the bench and be able to give what Amar’e’s going to give because he’s just that good, being Amar’e.

At the same time, Tyson Chandler might be the most underrated center in the league. There are other centers who might put up numbers, other centers who might grab rebounds better than him and they might be running back to play defense a little better than him, but he does all those things and, for a center, he knocks down free throws. I love this team. And then Marcus Camby… By the time Marcus Camby gets back healthy, I mean, c’mon, man. I love this team. Even last year, Marcus Camby was one of the better defenders and rebounders in the league. Once he gets his rhythm back, we’re gonna have solid defense and our offense is gonna be incredible. We’re gonna be a solid team.

And with Amar’e coming off the bench right now that means you have a solid guy coming into the front court, but you also have J.R. Smith, who’s been lighting it up this year.

If you look at my tweets, that’s something I said a while ago. People don’t agree with that. I said the Knicks need to re-sign J.R. Smith, ASAP. I said this. Look at my tweets. I said this. Prior to all this shit, I said it because I seen his motivation and I seen what he was doing early in the season. One thing that people need to understand is sometimes when you have a hothead or a guy that’s a little reckless abandon, all they need is guidance. They have that guidance in Jason Kidd. If you look at all the contending teams, the Lakers wanted Jason Kidd. LeBron wanted to play with Jason Kidd. Why do you think everyone wants to play with this guy? The Mavericks was very upset when he left because he’s a leader, so now J.R. has that leader to guide him. He already was incredible with his offense, now he has a leader to keep him from being reckless and to steady his game. That’s what makes him an incredible player. “We need to re-sign him” – look at my tweets. I said that.

He’s even playing defense this year. 'Melo’s playing defense. What do you think of the Woodson coaching change?

I like the Woodson coaching change. I think Woodson came from a background of defense, so that’s gonna benefit us. I was waiting to see why he wasn’t experimenting with the Twin Towers [Chandler and Camby], but now he’s doing that, especially when other teams go big. We don’t need ‘Melo trying to play power forward again.

You’ve mentioned a lot of players in your songs. On “Redemption” (explicit lyrics) you said, “Like Vince Carter, I’m too intense/ For dude’s defense to stop me, I abuse the rim.” How would you update that for 2013?

Vince Carter’s still good, but he used to be a freak athlete. He’s one of the best dunkers ever. Vince Carter’s a competitor so he’s never gonna suck. He might not be a superhero any more, but he’s not going to be a regular human either. That’s how I look at guys like Vince Carter. Stackhouse, too. Those guys are never gonna suck. They might not give you what they used to be able to give you, but they’re never gonna suck. I think one of the biggest atrocities in the NBA right now [is] there is no reason why Allen Iverson should not be in the NBA. I just don’t get it. That’s wrong.

I was surprised no teams took a flyer on him when things didn’t pan out with the Grizzlies and then he went to China.

Yeah, he’s in China doing his thing right now. Somebody might say, “Fuck it,” when they’re in the hunt for the playoffs, but I just don’t get it. This guy was one of the posterchilds of the league for so many years. At his worst, he could do better than a lot of the point guards are doing right now.

One of the knocks on him was he was more of a scoring guard. Do you think there’s anything to that?

I think people were just looking for a reason to criticize him, because you can’t condemn him for the shit you glorify Kobe for. I’m a big Kobe fan, but Kobe’s a fucking chucker. Straight up and down. They call Z-Bo [Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph] the black hole. Kobe’s a black hole. Because Kobe draws so much of the attention, he takes away from other players. Dwight Howard was having a hard time fitting in because the ball goes to Kobe so much. Kobe takes away from the other guys, or often does, and he doesn’t allow guys to get confident because he dominates the ball so much. When it’s the final shot, the clutch shot, when it’s crunch time or when it’s hammer time, you know he’s getting the ball, so there’s other players that just sit around. They don’t get to build their confidence. They have to defer to him. Iverson, they say he’s more of a shooting guard. OK, so sign him as a fucking shooting guard. He’s more of a shooting guard, but he still was an assist leader in the league. He still was in the top 10, top 15 in assists. He’s still better than most of the guys in the league. He’s still in the top of his field. Then what are you going to say? “We want good character guys”? C’mon, man. This is the NBA, not a boy’s choir. You can’t say you want good character guys. The Knicks were supposed to sign Iverson and they decided they’d pass on him. He was going to go to the Knicks the last year Mike D’Antoni was there. Mike D’Antoni is the last guy who should be judging somebody on character. He can’t get along with anybody. So with Iverson, it’s just crazy that he’s not in the league. I don’t know if he’s blacklisted or what, even from a business standpoint. Iverson will sell you some jerseys. He’ll get some people in the stands. I don’t get it.

He’ll definitely sell the jerseys. His name still carries some weight.

Hell yeah. People love him. The average girl, if you ask them about the NBA, they’ll still be like, “Iverson!” Girls loved him, dudes loved him. He was getting too street for the NBA. Iverson was such a burden to the NBA, they didn’t want him to succeed. They made a rule about the handle because he was crossing everybody over, broke Jordan’s ankles. They didn’t like that. “You’re not going to be disrespecting our posterchild of the NBA.” So he broke Jordan’s ankles, he was killing people with his handle so they made some kind of rule – a palming rule or some bullshit – so he couldn’t do his crossover any more, then they did the dress code shit. That was some anti-Iverson shit. They told him he can’t fucking make a rap album. People critique him and condemn him, but this guy played injured. You can say what you want about him, but he gave 110 percent on that court. He was hurt, he was battered, he’d crash boards, he wasn’t scared to take the big shot. He’d pass to his teammates when needed. Look at the team he took to the Finals. You’d scratch your head like, “How the eff did they get there?”

He was the frontrunner for a lot of the guys who are in the league right now. AI didn’t make his record, but would you rank the NBA players who released rap albums or say who’s the best rapper? Iman Shumpert from the Knicks is doing his thing, too.

He needs to holler at me then.

Have you heard any of his stuff?

Nah, I didn’t hear any of his stuff. If he’s good, I’ll do something with him. If he sucks, I won’t do anything with him. If he’s ok, I’ll do something with him just because he’s a Knick. But my favorite out of all the basketball players who did music, I’m going to have to go with Shaq just because he had that song with Biggie that was just dope. He had a song with Biggie, for chrissakes. That shuts down everything. Isaiah Rider was pretty good, too, from what I hear. My guys from the Bay Area say Isaiah Rider was pretty good. He was real serious about that, though. I know Chris Webber makes beats. Kurupt from Dogg Pound introduced me to Chris Webber, so I know he’s a real Hip-Hop head.


UPDATED:  In part two of the BDD interview with Cormega, he shares insights on the Air Jordan XX8's, real sneakerheads vs. fake sneakerheads, and his new album, Mega Philosophy.

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Jamal Crawford Is Using Street Ball-Style Play to Succeed in NBA

Jamal Crawford is playing his best basketball right now for the Clippers. (nba.com)

Jamal Crawford is having a coming out party for the Clippers in LA.

His numbers are up across the board. His field goal percentage is the highest it’s ever been in his 13-year career. He’s been lethal from behind the arc and at the charity stripe. The only time he averaged more points per game, he also averaged 12 more minutes per game. And he only averaged one measly point more per contest.

Crawford has had six games where he’s scored 20 or more points off the bench this year for the Clippers. However, the most impressive aspect of Crawford’s exploits this season is how he’s achieved these numbers; playing a street ball-style of basketball that has left some of the NBA’s elite icing sore ankles and egos.

On November 7, The Clippers were taking on a then-undefeated San Antonio Spurs team. Crawford had been quiet throughout the night, shooting just 3-7 from the floor and finishing with 10 points for the game. However, while the match did feature impressive highlight reel dunks from Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, Crawford would have the most memorable moment in the contest.

With 30 seconds left in the game and LA looking to run out the clock, Crawford took the ball out to the right wing, guarded closely by Spurs rookie guard Nando de Colo. Colo acted aggressively towards Crawford, seemingly wanting to prove himself as a good defender who plays till the final horn.

Bad idea. Admirable, but still a bad idea.

Crawford took a few steps back, drawing Colo to him. Then, in a “watch what I can do” moment, Crawford bounced the ball between Colo’s legs, drove to the hoop, took the foul and headed to the free throw line. Colo stumbled, backpedaled, threw his arms back, searching for an imaginary support, and fell to the court.

Ankles twisted? Check. Tailbone sore? Check. Ego bruised? Absolutely. Lesson learned? Without question.

Crawford has always had a street ball-style of play and broken many more accomplished ankles in the NBA than Colo’s. Proficient defenders such as Kirk Hinrich, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Metta World Peace, Rudy Gay and many more have fallen to Crawford’s handles. However, because of his increased efficiency shooting the ball (practice, anyone?) and his overall numbers at career highs, Crawford’s been more effective and exciting than ever before. 

However, Crawford is not the first street baller to excel at the professional level. For years, fans of basketball have been enthralled with the exaggerated crossovers, the no-look passes, and general showmanship that comes from a street-ball style. The NBA has been fortunate enough to have a few players translate their game from the playground to the court and there are a few notable names that have come through the league.

Let’s go down the list:

First up, Jason “White Chocolate” Williams. His numbers, while not overwhelming, are those of a solid point guard in the NBA. Williams finished up his career with 10 points and six assists per game and a knack for finding himself on the highlight reel for either a crazy crossover or a no-look pass. Williams consistently gave crowds and opponents exhibitions on ball handling. Even famed defender Gary “The Glove” Payton fell to the handles of Williams. While he was healthy, Williams was certainly an above average player in the league.

Next, Stephon “Starbury” Marbury. At the peak of his career, Marbury was one of the better point guards in the NBA, putting up 20 points and eight assists per game. Marbury was known for a devastating crossover and array of moves that left many opponents scratching their heads, wondering if what they’d seen had actually occurred or was simply a figment of their imaginations. There’s no denying that during his time in the league, Marbury was a true spectacle of street-style basketball.

Who could forget Rafer “Skip to my Lou” Alston? While his time on the court was inconsistent, Alston still managed to have solid career, putting up decent numbers and spectacular highlights. Unfortunately, Alston is probably best known for taking a shot at sharpshooter Eddie House. However, Alston also had the ability to break a defender down and leave them in the dust on his way to the hoop.  Don’t believe me? Ask Dwayne Wade.

Then there’s always J.R. Smith. While his defense leaves something to be desired, Smith has shown to be a very good offensive threat off the bench. He has incredible athleticism, as displayed through his participation in the 2005 dunk contest. While he's been criticized at times for shooting too much, when he’s on, Smith has the ability to really pour it on from downtown. His crossover is nothing to sneer at either.

I couldn’t overlook Nate Robinson, could I? (It’s a height joke.) A 5’9" sparkplug of energy off the bench, Robinson has stunned audiences over the years with his athletic ability, primarily in the dunk contest. No one will ever forget Robinson’s aerial assaults on the hoop over fellow little man Spud Webb and big man Dwight Howard en route to two dunk contest championships. He can also give defenses headaches with his jump shot and ball handling ability.

Who’s number one, you ask? Well here’s “The Answer.” Despite being an undersized guard, Allen “The Answer” Iverson was one of the most prolific scorers the NBA has ever had, putting up 27 points per game. He also affected the game in a big way on defense; collecting two steals a game for his career. While no one will accuse Iverson of being unselfish, he did manage to put up good assist numbers (six per game) along with his scoring. While, unlike Crawford, Iverson never learned the importance of practice, he did make the greatest player to ever walk on an NBA court look like Chevy Chase opening for SNL with his devastating crossover.


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