The mission of the Jamal Crawford Foundation is to provide inner-city children
with experiences and activities to strengthen both their minds and bodies
leading to well-rounded adults.
Jamal Crawford, one of the most gifted guards in the NBA, was born on March 20, 1980 in Seattle Washington. Since entering the NBA, Crawford has put to use the life lessons learned at a young age to form the basis of the Jamal Crawford Foundation.
Though he spent most of his life in Seattle, Crawford spent two stints of his youth in Los Angeles, where he learned the importance of family values.
“Family is very important,” says Jamal. “My grandmother in LA taught me everything. She taught me simple things like how to set a table fork, knife and then spoon and how to get into the Church and believe in God. Then my grandmother in Seattle taught me about karma and giving my all in everything I do and never giving up. Don’t be satisfied.”
Like most kids, Jamal actively played sports as a kid, excelling in football and baseball in addition to, of course, basketball.
Still, academics took precedence over athletics, as Crawford’s family stressed the importance of education. As a result, Crawford is a wiz at mathematics, having an almost photographic memory when it comes to numbers.
“I was really into math,” Crawford says. “To this day, I’m really, really good with numbers. I don’t need a calculator or anything.”
But, as would be expected, Jamal’s childhood recollections are peppered with basketball memories.
“I’ve had so many different memories as a child, but when I started playing organized basketball, that is what changed my life. I was about eight or nine, and I was doing layups that were so natural to me, but I had never played organized basketball before. I’ve had a basketball since I was two years old.”
Jamal believes that if you respect the game, it will respect you back, and basketball has certainly provided him with exceptional opportunities. Yet despite fame and fortune, it is the people he has met along the way that has impacted Crawford’s life more than anything else.
One such person is Jay-Z, who has become one of Crawford’s dearest friends and a mentor.
“I love Jay-Z. I don’t talk to him as much as I should, or as much as someone should speak with his or her mentor, but he gives me the best advice on life which is something I look to do with the foundation. I want to be a mentor, and be that person giving the advice to change someone’s life. I still get nervous talking to him, but I understand how important it is."
Still, Crawford remembers where he comes from and credits his grandmothers for becoming the man he is today, saying they are the reason he relies on his family more than anything else in the world.
“I have two sisters, and even though I don’t have any brothers, I have a nephew who is really close to me. It’s more of a brother relationship than an uncle-nephew one. We are best friends and I talk to him all the time.”
Jamal also credits his relationship with his nephew as yet another inspiration to help other individuals and children through his foundation, which has become so successful that the NBA recognized it during the 2007 season.
In November of 2007, Crawford was awarded the NBA Community Assist Award for work done via the Foundation.
“We really do a lot,” Crawford says. “We did a charity softball event in Seattle, we donated a library to PS 58 in New York, we got trainers all throughout Seattle to give back to public schools and gyms, we do the giving tree every year around the holidays for the kids. We really do a lot of different things and it is a lot of fun.”
So what does Jamal expect out of his foundation?
“I want kids to learn to follow their dreams, and never give up. Seeing the expression on kids’ faces, that means everything to me. There is so much that comes along with being a pro athlete, but seeing the look on their faces means everything to me because I was that kid just ten or twelve years ago.”
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