Kings coach Doug Christie and three-time Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford are two of basketball’s all-time greats to come out of the Seattle area. But, as Crawford himself states, Christie deserves plenty of credit for paving the way for the 20-year NBA veteran.

In November, Crawford joined NBC Sports California’s Morgan Ragan and Deuce Mason to discuss how Christie mentored him as a teenager in Seattle.

“There would be no J-Crossover or Jamal Crawford or any of that without him,” Crawford explained on “Conversations with Deuce & Mo.” “He was the first person to help foster my goals, but also help me believe I could reach my goals, and that was so important to me.

“I was a 16-year-old kid. He had heard about me, and he’s like, ‘Hey, you can come work out.’ I’m like, ‘All right, cool.’ If we’re working out at 7 o’clock, I’d be there at 6:30, like waiting on him. I tried to beat him to the gym. I didn’t even have his phone number. So, our next schedule would be from the last gym session. ‘All right, Tuesday at 6:30.’ ‘Okay.’ ‘Friday at 7 o’clock.’ And I was beating him there at times — most of the time, actually — and that’s when he was like, ‘This kid’s serious. This kid’s different.'”

As a budding star at Rainier Beach High School — which Christie also attended a decade prior — Crawford illustrated what he learned from Christie, who by then was beginning to emerge as one of the NBA’s best defenders.

“I remember one time, I saw him with ankle weights working out,” Crawford recounted. “He’s working out with ankle weights on. He had a handheld foam roller. So, I’m taking notes. ‘Oh, he’s a professional. He’s taking care of his body. The pros are in the best shape.’ I’m noticing all these things at 16.

“Fast forward, that summer, he allows me to play on his Pro-Am team with him. And I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m playing against Damon Stoudamire and Yinka Dare and Cliff Robinson and Sean Kemp and all these guys as a 16-year-old kid.’ And I’m like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’

“But I was on his team, and he got hurt. He rolled his ankle. He’s out a few weeks. And up until that point, I may have had two points a game for four games. So, eight points total. He goes out, and I start getting 30 [points], right? And then when he came back, it was like, of course, Doug Christie’s the pro, he’s the guy. But I was like his Robin, right? And I’m still getting 20s and 25s. And that gave me another boost.”

Now, Crawford furthers Christie’s Seattle legacy by running the CrawsOver Pro-Am league, a continuation of the same tournament that Christie originally started to promote young phenoms like Crawford once was.

“So, words can’t describe what he means to me, what he means to Seattle,” Crawford concluded. “Like, he is literally everything. When people ask me the best player from Seattle, it’s just always him for me, like always. And he’s probably the best person as well.”

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