Former Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford has seen a noticeable decrease in his playing time this season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and it appears to be coming as something of an unpleasant surprise to him.
Speaking with the media on Friday, Crawford talked about his 17 minutes per game in 2017-18 and said that was nowhere in his discussions with the Wolves when he signed with them this summer. He did however say that winning was the biggest priority, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
Jamal Crawford just talked about the challenge of being productive in shorter minutes. Said all of the discussions he had w/Wolves this summer, none included 17 minutes per game.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) December 15, 2017
But Crawford said the main thing is the team is winning. "It’s not about me at all. As long as we’re trending the right direction and winning, the rest, hopefully, will work itself out. Try to get wins along the way."
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) December 15, 2017
The 17-year veteran Crawford is seeing the least playing time since his rookie season back in 2000-01, and it has resulted in meager averages of 8.9 points and 2.1 assists per game. But Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau is known to play his starters heavy minutes, and it has led them to a 17-12 record (fourth in the West). When you consider the reasons why Crawford signed with Minnesota in the first place, perhaps that’s enough to offset his lack of minutes this year.
