Basketball fans will never forget Tuesday night’s game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns. Despite the fact that both squads are headed for the Draft Lottery, the game marked Dirk Nowitzki’s final contest in front of the Dallas faithful. The future Hall of Fame inductee went for 30 points in his final home get, and yet he didn’t have the biggest night by a grizzled veteran during the game.
That’s because professional bucket-getter Jamal Crawford exploded for 51 points during a basketball game in April of the year of our lord two thousand and nineteen. There is nothing like when Crawford gets scorching hot, and if he sees the ball go through the hoop a few times, he’s still capable of doing that thing where he just ruins some professional basketball player 1-on-1 before knocking down a jumper.
.@JCrossover was hitting from EVERYWHERE tonight! 🔥
📊: 51 PTS | 7 3PM | 5 AST#TimeToRise pic.twitter.com/An3OOzAM9m
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 10, 2019
Crawford is 39 and in his 19th season, and yet he made dropping 51 look like the easiest thing in the world. He scored 26 in the fourth quarter alone! His first NBA game took place exactly one week before the Bush-Gore election!
It is unspeakably cool that Crawford can still, every now and then, make something as hard as scoring a lot of points on NBA players look so effortless. His performance against the Mavericks, in fact, made history, making Crawford the first player to ever get a 50-piece for four different teams.
Jamal Crawford. First player to drop 50+ for FOUR TEAMS
— Law Murray 🐦🔥 (@LawMurrayTheNU) April 10, 2019
50-point @JCrossover games:
April 2004 with Bulls
January 2007 with Knicks (career-high 52)
December 2008 with Warriors
April 2019 with Suns (51 at age 39)— Law Murray 🐦🔥 (@LawMurrayTheNU) April 10, 2019
That wasn’t the only history Crawford make: No one age 39 or older has ever gotten buckets in a single game quite like he did against Dallas.
Jamal Crawford has passed Michael Jordan for the most points scored by someone 39 or older with 47 points per @bball_ref.
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) April 10, 2019
The 39-year-old @JCrossover joins Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and Alex English as the only players in NBA history over the age of 35 to drop 50 points, per @bball_ref. https://t.co/eGd36OyPEU
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) April 10, 2019
Please never retire Jamal Crawford. I am positive that at age 65 you can find a way to score 31 points on 11-for-17 shooting against any team.