Tianjin Gold Lions point guard Jordan Crawford during his NBA stint with the Boston Celtics. (Photo : Getty Images)
Former NBA journeyman Jordan Crawford bagged his second Player of the Week award despite his team, the Tianjin Gold Lions, falling to a hard-fighting Jilin Northeast Tigers five, 132-128, in a Round 36 game of the 2015-2016 Chinese Basketball Association season held at the Changchun Gymnasium on Jan. 31, Sunday.
The 27-year-old combo guard produced an impressive stat line of 55 points, nine rebounds, and three assists during the team's loss, which was enough to win him this week's award, as per Asia-basket.
Crawford shot 16-of-25 (64 percent) from the two-point area and 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) from beyond the arc en route to his high-scoring output. The former Indiana and Xavier standout also had seven steals in the game, which means he had shown brilliance in the defensive end as well, via 7M CBA Live.
While the game is said to be of no significance to the incoming CBA playoffs cast as both squads are already eliminated in the postseason, still Crawford's individual performance deserves to be recognized.
Crawford is actually this CBA season's scoring champion, averaging 42.8 points per game and shooting a highly efficient 57.3 percent from the floor.
The Gold Lions are currently at the 18th spot in the overall standings with a dismal 8-30 win-loss record while the Northeast Tigers are a spot above at no. 17 with also a disappointing 10-28 slate.
Crawford is the 27th overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft by the then New Jersey Nets. He played his rookie season with the Atlanta Hawks, though, after his rights was traded to them after the draft.
The 6-foot-4 Detroit, Michigan native played half a season with the Hawks before he, along with Mike Bibby and Maurice Evans, was traded to the Washington Wizards in Feb. 2011 for Hilton Armstrong and Kirk Hinrich.
He spent his most productive seasons in Washington, from 2010 to 2013, where he had his career-high scoring average of 16.3 points during his first year with the Wizards. It made him somewhat of a starter in his second year with the franchise as he averaged 14.7 points and 3.0 assists.
After that, he also had short stints with the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors from 2013 to 2014 before suiting up in the CBA for the first time with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in September 2014.
Tianjin signed him in November 2015 after a brief spell with NBA D-League squad Fort Wayne Mad Ants earlier in the year.
