PLAYA VISTA — Another day, another opportunity …

Jamal Crawford’s inspirational mantra, the sentiment he tweets regularly, it’ll now apply the post-playing chapters of his life.

On Monday morning, Crawford let the world know, via tweet, that he’s ready to call it a career: “Goodbye to the game, all the spoils the adrenaline rush,” he wrote. “Thank you basketball, I owe you everything.”

Crawford walks away having played 20 NBA seasons, earned three Sixth Man of the Year awards and scored 19,419 points. He announced his plans a day after turning 42.

He played for nine NBA teams, including five seasons with the Clippers.

Although Crawford hadn’t played in the league since he appeared in a single game for Brooklyn during the 2020 pandemic bubble at Walt Disney World, he insisted as recently as March 11 that he had more left in his tank, telling Dan Patrick in an appearance on his show that his shot “it’s there, it’s still really in motion.”

So, if the Clippers, the Lakers or Golden State called? “Oh, I’ll be ready,” Crawford told Patrick. “No doubt about it, I’d be ready – and I’d get some buckets.”

Instead, Crawford is fielding an outpouring of appreciation from former colleagues, including Lou Williams, another past Clippers star and sixth man extraordinaire.

“Thank you for inspiring us all,” Williams tweeted. “And on a personal level, thank you for always having a dope spirit. Much love.”

Thank you for inspiring us all. And on a personal level, thank you for always having a dope spirit. Much love https://t.co/RwIelY8pk9

— Lou Williams (@TeamLou23) March 21, 2022

Together, Crawford and Williams dominated Sixth Man voting between 2010-2019, taking home six of the nine trophies awarded in that span – the final two apiece as Clippers. The slick scoring guards rank Nos. 1 and 2 all time on off-the-bench point production; Williams, who now plays for Atlanta, leads everyone with 13,373 points in 996 games off the bench and Crawford finishes with 11,279 points after 894 outings as a reserve.

Selected eighth overall out of Michigan in the 2000 NBA draft, Crawford averaged 14.6 points and 3.4 assists on 41% shooting  in 29.4 minutes per game over the course of a career that spanned 1,327 regular-season games and 74 playoff contests. Besides the Clippers and Nets, he played for Chicago, New York, Golden State, Atlanta, Portland, Minnesota and Phoenix.

In his final non-bubble game on April 9, 2019, Crawford came off the bench for the Suns and dropped 51 points on 18-for-30 shooting against Dallas. That made him, at 39, the oldest player in NBA history to record a 50-point game and the first to record 50-point efforts with four franchises.

5⃣1⃣ POINTS.

Legendary performance from @JCrossover pic.twitter.com/ltiRfI0JJU

— x – Phoenix Suns (@Suns) April 10, 2019

“That’s something that’s kind of drove me crazy for a while,” Crawford told Patrick. “It’s amazing when I see guys having high-scoring games, 40 or 50 (points) and people are like, ‘Hey that’s the next star, I told you he was gonna be a star.’ And I’m like, ‘That’s true, but I got 50 and really couldn’t even get a job the next year.’ And that’s kind of baffling for me as well.”

For all of the on-court exploits that Crawford did pack into his career, he’ll also be remembered for what Williams called that “dope spirit,” reflected in the Teammate of the Year award he won in 2018, when he played for the Timberwolves.

Clippers forward Nicolas Batum was an up-and-coming talent when he played with Crawford in Portland in 2011-12, and he said he leaned heavily on the veteran scorer that season.

“That was the last year of my rookie deal,” Batum said. “And he’d always tell me, ‘I don’t think you understand, like, who you can be in this league. You have the talent to be good.’ And I mean, coming from a guy like that, yeah … I got my big leap the next year, came from eight points to a 14, six (assists) and six (rebounds) guy, literally right after that season, and he was a big part of it.”

Wish you the best my man @JCrossover https://t.co/fGUYFGn6lU

— Nicolas Batum (@nicolas88batum) March 21, 2022

Crawford helped in other ways too, including singing the chorus of Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize” to DeAndre Jordan at the free-throw line to help the former Clippers center relax.

“He’d get a little nervous late in games, so I would go up and sing to him,” Crawford told Patrick. “To get him to smile and relax before he shot free throws and in the fourth quarter. … ‘Biggie, Biggie, Biggie, can’t you see?’ And he’d start singing it with me, and then he’d start smiling and then he’d relax and start making free throws.”

How much the on-court karaoke contributed is hard to quantify, but Jordan shot free throws at a 38.6% rate in 2012-13, Crawford’s first season with the team, and he improved to a 48.2% by 2016-17, Crawford’s last Clippers campaign.

“Jamal was just awesome to be around, and my mom’s favorite player too,” messaged Bally Sports broadcaster Brian Sieman, who was the team’s radio voice while Crawford played in L.A.

Sieman recalled the day in 2016 that his mom suffered a heart attack, noting that when he called her, worried, he realized quickly she was going to be OK because the first thing she asked was, “How many points did Jamal end up with?”

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Sieman said he asked the team’s public relations staffers if they might ask Crawford to take a photo with a “get well soon” sign for his mom, but Crawford instead recorded a full video.

“A year later she was at a game, and he wanted to meet her, so I took her back to the locker room,” Sieman recalled. “He was awesome with her and it was one of those moments I’ll never forget.

“I’m positive there are hundreds, if not thousands of stories just like that. He was the real deal.”

The next stories will revolve around Crawford coaching his son, J.J., sharing insight as a TNT in-studio analyst or in roles such as his recent one working alongside former Clipper Quentin Richardson on an alternate telecast of games on NBA League Pass.

And whatever other opportunities await.

One of the greatest to ever do it.

Three-time Sixth Man of the Year.
Second all time in points off the bench.
NBA Teammate of the Year.

Congratulations, @JCrossover, on a spectacular career. pic.twitter.com/YHL0G9p9nL

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) March 21, 2022

Smoove!!! One of the best to do it … @JCrossover https://t.co/8lne3SEA7U

— Eric Bledsoe (@EBled2) March 21, 2022

Once a Knick, always a Knick.

Congrats on a great career, @JCrossover! pic.twitter.com/OoYKApXMA2

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 21, 2022

Thank you for everything, @JCrossover.

Congrats and happy retirement! https://t.co/P88w6sVmPW pic.twitter.com/PFRAzctAKk

— Winnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 21, 2022