Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\nCrawford, a 2024 NBL champion with the Tasmania JackJumpers, took on some of the league\u2019s toughest defenders during his time in the league. But none pushed him quite like Shea Ili, Melbourne United\u2019s two-time defensive player of the year. Facing Ili brought out the best in Crawford, a challenge he welcomed every time.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Ili ever got into his head, Crawford didn\u2019t hesitate:<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, not at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cAll I knew was he [Shea Ili] was going to play super hard. He was going to be physical. He was going to try to, you know, be diving for loose balls and stuff like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut as far as like on the one-on-one and staying in front of me and trying to guard me, like my confidence and what I feel like I can do, it didn\u2019t faze me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jordon Crawford of the Jackjumpers is blocked by Shea Ili of Melbourne United. Photo: Steve Bell\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Crawford opened up on the NBA players who inspired him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael Jordan was the uno,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy Dad and I used to have watch parties for the Bulls \u2026 That\u2019s who I was named after. My dad is the biggest fan. It kind of just trickled down to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was in middle school \u2026 it was probably Allen Iverson \u2026 his determination being a small guard and getting after it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reflecting on his toughest matchups, Crawford praised United as a team that \u201cbrought the best out of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI always knew it was going to be a physical game and tough game, like you couldn\u2019t relax \u2026 You just knew you were going to be in a dog fight \u2026 I think that\u2019s why those were challenging games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford also admitted he had hoped to return to the JackJumpers – and to the NBL – but timing and opportunity ultimately took him elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was happy being in Tasmania \u2026 that would have been a place that I wanted to make home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was nothing that I didn\u2019t like about it but it just didn\u2019t line up with both sides, and then this situation [Turkey] came about first \u2026 it was something that made sense to me and my family. So I had to take what\u2019s best for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though he\u2019s no longer in the league, Crawford said he remains deeply grateful for the support of the fans – and left the door open to a possible NBL return. <\/p>\n
\u201cI appreciate the support that you\u2019ve given me and still give me and, you know, reaching out to me and seeing how things been and saying that you guys miss me. I feel the love and always feel the open arms and welcoming from you guys.\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTasmania, you guys have been home and fans have been amazing. The community\u2019s been amazing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, hopefully one day god willing I can get back and be a part of it again, whether it\u2019s as a fan or as a player. I appreciate you guys again and all the best and wishes to you guys and God bless.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watch more of the interview in the video player above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBL champion Jordon Crawford gave up size to many of his rivals, but still managed to neutralise some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-295470","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}