Jamal Crawford has to tone down his excitement while calling games for NBC

What Jamal Crawford is about to tell you, he hasn’t even told his broadcast partners Mike Tirico and Reggie Miller yet.

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Crawford, who played 20 years in the NBA, is now a color commentator for NBC Sports and has been calling playoff games with Tirico and Miller, including the thrilling second-round matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

And Crawford has been sprinkling in a secret catchphrase no one has caught on to yet.

“You know what? I have one, and during these playoffs you will hear it,” Crawford told NBC News last week when asked if he has prepared a signature call for the postseason. “You’re the first person I’m telling I have one. Not even Mike and Reggie know this. When you hear it, you’ll know. I’ll give you a little hint: You’re going to hear something about a court.”

Keen listeners may or may not know Crawford’s catchphrase, but they are likely well aware of the enthusiasm he brings to the broadcast. After a long, storied career in which he played for nine teams, Crawford dipped his toe into the media waters beginning in 2021, calling games for NBA League Pass.

He joined TNT as a studio analyst in 2022 and eventually started calling select games in the booth for MSG Network in 2024 as part of the New York Knicks’ local broadcast.

When the NBA returned to NBC this season, Crawford joined as one of the lead analysts. He hit it off with Tirico and Miller instantly. Within a half of calling a preseason game together, he says, the trio already felt connected.

“Reggie is a legend. I still learn and steal from him. Mike is the ultimate point guard. He sets everybody else up first, but he knows when to do his filay layup,” Crawford said. “It’s an honor to sit with those guys, but we have a good crew all over the place.”

Calling games is just one of the ways Crawford remains close to the sport he loves. In addition to his work for NBC Sports, Crawford also narrates “Chasing History,” a behind-the-scenes digital documentary produced by the NBA. Crawford travels with his microphone so he can record his voice-overs throughout the playoffs.

“To be this close to the game is incredible,” said Crawford, who also coaches AAU and works with college and pro players in the offseason. “But this brings a different connection. This, for me, is like what I heard in my childhood when Marv Albert was on a call, or Bob Costas, or Ahmad Rashad. I take such pride in it.”

Crawford, a self-described basketball nerd, said he’s having so much fun calling games that he often finds himself having to tone it down during the broadcast.

“I’m coming straight from like, ‘Yo, I’m a fan. We are at the bar, I’m having my Sprite lemonade.’ I’m truly a fan of the game in the purest, truest sense.”

Once the second round ends, Crawford will shift his attention to the Western Conference finals, which will be broadcast on NBC. Asked whom he’d like to see in the NBA Finals, Crawford said he’s curious what Madison Square Garden would sound like in the championship round. Crawford played for the Knicks from 2004 to 2009, a period when they never made the playoffs.

“Seeing the Knicks reach the Finals would be crazy. I know that fan base. They made it feel like the playoffs when we were terrible when I played there every single night. So I couldn’t imagine what Finals is like in New York.”