Watching a 40-year-old Michael Jordan work out at 6 A.M. motivated Jamal Crawford. The 3x Sixth Man of the Year winner, who has always idolized the Chicago Bulls legend, was inspired by His Airness‘ game. However, as one might assume, not all of Crawford’s flashy and smooth moves were inspired by MJ. Years later, Crawford revealed that some of his moves were actually borrowed from another NBA star.

He reshared a post on X featuring All-Star Nick Van Exel’s mind-bending playing style. Crawford confessed the truth while praising the former Lakers star. “So so cold. Stole so much from him!” Crawford wrote on X.

The post initially showcased a clip highlighting several moments of Van Exel’s awe-inspiring ball-handling abilities. There’s no doubt that Exel was legendary in what he did. However, it might come as a shock to Crawford’s fans, who have mostly heard the basketball legend talk about his famous pickup games with Michael Jordan that attracted other athletes as well.

Crawford once even played the role of Jordan’s body double in an ad film. He was inspired by his work ethic and playing style. On the Pivot podcast a few weeks ago, Crawford discussed how MJ took him under his wing and mentored him. But then again, interestingly, the former Lakers star who Crawford admired was also influenced by Jordan’s game.

Nick Van Exel regretted giving away rare tapes of Michael Jordan

The former NBA point guard once had an extremely rare collection of two tapes featuring Jordan’s games. As per Van Exel, these tapes included never-before-seen Jordan highlights.

He often watched these clips during his flights. Even just two tapes of Jordan’s games would have been incredibly insightful. However, he no longer has the tapes in his possession. One of his former teammates, who had watched the tapes, requested to borrow them. He lent the tapes to his teammate, not realizing that he would never get them back.

That teammate was none other than Kobe Bryant. “I used to have VHS tapes back in the day full of highlights of Michael Jordan. Kobe asked to borrow them, and I’ve never seen those tapes again,” Nick once said on the Late Night Lake Show. Unsurprisingly, as Van Exel shared, Kobe never returned those tapes. While he had already absorbed all the information he needed, Van Exel regretted not having the tapes, as they could have potentially been very valuable. And we don’t doubt that.

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Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.