15 best Michigan basketball NBA careers in Wolverines history

3. Jamal Crawford

Few remember Brian Ellerbe’s stint as Michigan’s head coach, but it’s impossible to forget Jamal Crawford, who built quite the legacy with the Wolverines during that time.

A 6’5 guard from Seattle, Crawford was a dynamic weapon who made his way to Ann Arbor in 1999 and spent just a single season with the Wolverines. The former high school star averaged 16.6 points and 4.5 assists per game for an underwhelming Michigan team but did enough to build his own profile.

Crawford was the 8th pick of the 2000 NBA Draft and spent the next 20 years as a backcourt weapon. He spent time with nine different franchises, including successful runs early in his career with the post-Jordan Bulls and the Knicks.

He was a dynamic scorer for most of his playing career, had impressive assist numbers, and was a three-time winner of Sixth Man of the Year. He totaled 19,419 career points in the NBA and was an influential player everywhere he went.

Crawford didn’t win big at Michigan and he never cut down the nets in the NBA, he was simply a steady force who ground out 20 years at the professional level. No former Michigan player has had a longer career or scored more points than him on basketball’s biggest stage. One could argue that he deserves to be higher on the list, but he was never a super-dominant player or an All-Star. Nevertheless, Crawford’s career was fantastic and deserves to be honored.