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Jamal Crawford is one of the best off-the-bench players the NBA has ever seen and was a valuable asset for every team he has ever played for. In fact, throughout his career, he has had a lot of run-ins with the Los Angeles Lakers’ legend Kobe Bryant.

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Crawford and Kobe have played against each other a lot, and even now Crawford speaks very highly of the late superstar. Not to anyone’s surprise, he has also named Kobe as the best opponent he has ever had.

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Kobe Bryant conversing with Michael Jackson

In an interview with Crawford, he went into detail behind Kobe’s mentality and even revealed that he used to talk to Michael Jackson. “He was the best player by far,” Crawford stated. “It’s not even close because it’s his mentality, his skill level, his work ethic, the fearlessness of him, right? He was fearless.

“He was just unbelievable, had no weakness, and was always trying to get better. Like he would tell me about the conversations he would have with Michael Jackson. Just picking his brain about being great and being the greatest. And how meticulous he was with different things like.”

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Crawford also said that even their relationship grew over the years. They went from playing against each other to texting and talking “He was a special, special, special person,” asserted Jamal.

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The closest thing to Michael Jordan

Kobe has often compared to Michael Jordan, and still is. Crawford couldn’t emphasize enough on the fact that Jordan and Kobe were so alike. “It was eerie, how similar they were. From their size to the way they approached things, their mentality, skill level, work ethic to their not always wanting to beat you but demoralize you.”

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He even went ahead and said, “People who didn’t get to play against Michael, they played against Michael through Kobe.” Well, he isn’t wrong and there isn’t anybody who will disagree with this fact.

Crawford has also achieved a lot in his NBA career. Although he didn’t get to play longer than he wished he would have, but he will always remain relevant in the NBA world.

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Read also- “I Saw the Fear”: Jamal Crawford Labels Kobe Bryant as This Generation’s Michael Jordan

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Yashima Bhatia

1,803 Articles

Yashima Bhatia is an NBA writer for EssentiallySports who specialises in providing nuanced predictions and updates for matches. She has a Bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communication. Yashima's love for playing the game came up at a young age, when the excitement of the games coupled with the intensity of the Playoffs had her hooked. Her interest for the game transitioned into her love for writing the sport. Previously, she has had experience as a scriptwriter for short films and a freelance photographer.

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