- I think I'm kind of a riddle
from the standpoint that, guys that play this long
usually aren't averaging 30 points for a month,
aren't getting 50-point games,
especially off the bench.
Like that's kinda unheard of.
So, I think I kinda fall in the category of like,
"What do we do with him?"
I don't know if you got this.
Yeah, this court's been here like seven years.
But what's crazy about it, like for real,
is the fact that I really used to come here, all the time,
15, 16, come out here,
sun was goin' down. You know I mean? Like it'd be packed,
people everywhere.
I look at it like a rapper.
You know, like before the album comes the mixtape.
You know, right, creates the buzz.
At that time, before I played high school,
those were my mixtapes.
I was in every gym.
Just like, I guess, rappers,
they go from different clubs
or different parties, they open up for different people.
Like I was at every gym, every court.
If there was a hoop I was there.
And then the people just started coming.
And the buzz grew, the buzz grew.
So, by the time I was in high school, they already knew.
That was over 20 years ago.
It's crazy how fast it goes.
So, straight from mixtape,
came to high school.
Obviously, you guys see my name on the court right here.
We'll actually go in the school,
so it will bring back some memories for sure.
What's up, my dog? - What's happenin'?
- What's up, bro? How are you?
What's going on?
- What's goin' on right here?
- This family right here, man.
This right here, this is "30 for 30" or...?
- Nah, it's Players' Tribune.
Hey-hey, how you doing?
Mr. Epstein! - Good, how you doing?
- Tell 'em. Tell 'em the truth.
- Jamal had a hard time getting to class.
But there was no more genuine human being.
- That's true. That's absolutely true.
- And fortunately some of us got enough common sense
that we're able to study on our own
when institutions don't work for us.
That's Jamal.
And I appreciate that. - I appreciate it.
Right on. Good seeing you, Mr. Epstein.
- All right, thank you, guys,
for honoring him.
Come on.
You all right? - Good.
- What grade are you in?
- Ninth.
- Ninth? First year!
So, little-known fact:
High school - never, ever, ever lost a game here,
playing high school.
The greatest show's were right here.
You've had everybody - from Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp,
all the Sonics - come in here and watch, participate.
There's my jersey, right there.
You can see Nate Robinson, Terrence Williams.
To this day - even being in the NBA,
playing college, playing all that -
playing here in high school is the most fun
I ever had playing basketball.
To this day.
It was so pure.
It was so ... you were able to dream.
You were dreaming about everything.
You'd dream about what could happen in the future.
Now that you're actually living that,
you're like, "Oh, O.K., it's great and this is
how it worked out," but high school is the most fun
I ever had playing basketball.
You were just so free.
- Holy mackerel.
People don't know I used to be able to dunk.
Like I was jumping in the air, like catching lobs.
But the best lob I ever threw
came from him,
Nate Robinson, as you guys see. Nate the Great.
He was a freshman. I'm a senior.
It was a out-of-bounds play.
We're over on that side of the court.
I didn't know Nate was gonna throw it.
I shoulda known he was crazy then,
because I wasn't known for jumping.
He kinda throws it behind me. Exactly.
He threw it behind me a little bit.
I caught it back here. I dunked it.
You know, I play it cool, so I ran off like it was cool.
But I'm saying to myself,
"Ah, I ain't never doing that again."
So it was really, really cool.
- Everybody went crazy,
I remember that.
- Yeah, everybody went crazy.
- That was like one of the dopest baskets.
It's all pretty cool, man.
Coming from the same city, same place,
same high school. - Same everything.
- We were the first teammates and friends to ever do that.
To go to the same high school
and play on the same NBA team.
Nate Robinson and Jamal Crawford,
Rainier Beach High School.
Beach Boys for life. - Always.
- This is another Mal move he used to do.
- So our library when I was here was way smaller.
It was like ... it's pretty much just this section.
And I remember watching like Allen Iverson clips on NBA.com.
It took like 10 minutes to load a five-second clip.
So it's dope that they have all Internet access right now.
Like they could watch anything right now.
Look, look, look, look, look, look, look.
Look, we got him on....
We got you.
If I never play another minute in the NBA
I've had one of the 10 longest careers
in NBA history.
Like if you had asked me if I was a kid
just to play in the NBA, right?
But having a long career, it's like 10 years,
that's a long career.
I've almost had two long careers in one.
I think I'm kind of a riddle from the standpoint
that, guys that play this long
usually aren't averaging 30 points for a month,
aren't getting 50-point games, especially off the bench.
Like that's kinda unheard of.
So I think I kinda fall in the category
of like, "What do we do with him?"
Right?
So, in my heart of hearts, I'm like,
"I know I'm still the same player."
I know at this age you're not supposed to be the same player
but I know I am.
That's why that last month was so huge.
Besides the 51-point game off the bench right?
I averaged 31 points in the month of April.
That's my highest scoring month of my career -
in 19 years.
In Knick days, Clipper days, wherever, right?
So that, we see meant like....
It confirmed what I already knew.
And here we are.
Young Mal right there.
Got my Bulls jersey. Had my S. Carters on.
I remember when I first put those on,
I played against Allen Iverson my first game.
And he was like, "Man, you can wear those?"
Like he thought they were just like some casual shoes.
But yeah.
I'm probably one of the only few people
that been in a commercial with Jay-Z and Michael Jordan.
Jay-Z with that shoe, and then Michael Jordan
when I played the young him when he was coming back.
Young 23 versus old 23.
When he was coming back to the Wizards.
So that's pretty cool as well.
I look at my career kinda like albums, right?
Like everybody has their favorite version
or their favorite album.
So Chicago, like that was my introduction to the NBA.
Like I was really, really like, "Wow, this is the NBA."
And then when I come to the Nicks, I'm like,
"Wow," like I feel like I was really a young adult.
So then when I leave New York and I go to Golden State,
that was like a slept-on album, right?
'Cause I averaged 20 points, I averaged five assists,
I had 50, I had 40 my first home game.
But we weren't that good.
Then I go to Atlanta, and it's a whole new chapter.
Now it's like going to a group, and you're like,
"O.K., you were the lead guy, now you're in a group.
Now you come off the bench." Right?
So now it's like, O.K., you're not gonna be Denzel,
you're gonna have to be T.I. in "American Gangster."
How you gonna do your part?
So now that goes, and I go to Portland.
And that was like the album where you have all your fans.
Like, "What album is this?"
Like, "What's going on here?
This ain't the Jamal we grew to love."
So I said, "All right, that's all right.
You guys didn't like 'Kingdom Come?'
Here, I'll come back with something else." Right?
So then I came back with a whole new album
with the Clippers.
And that was like a lot of people's favorite album.
It's funny 'cause a lot of my highlights,
people go to the Clippers.
I'm like, "No, I had highlights way before then."
But that was the best team I was on.
Right, and then Minnesota was a challenge.
I don't know what album that would be for Jay
but that was a challenge.
And then Phoenix was a even bigger challenge
in a different way.
But I still found a way to kinda rise above it,
because now, at that point,
I'm fighting the age thing. Right?
It's, "Oh, he's too old."
So this is where our trophies are.
A lot of trophies right here.
Basketball, football, track. Rich history.
- Thank you very much, yeah.
- My first real job wasn't an NBA player.
It was actually working in the arena,
and I was the guy who would actually bring food up
from the basement to the concession stands.
And it's normally a 10-minute trip, right?
I would make it a 45-minute trip
because I would stand in the aisleways
and watch the Sonics play.
I was able to look on that court and dream.
I was able to look out there and fantasize
and dream about that.
And with us not having the Sonics right now,
I thought it was our duty to kind of give back
and be the Sonics for the generation coming up.
So we're heavily involved.
Pass, still make your teammates better.
You're gonna try to implement what we've been working on
for the last hour and a half, two hours.
And I just did it for a lot of people in my community.
A lot of people in the state.
Shoot three.
You didn't have to reach a certain status
to not turn around and pull somebody back up.
You're like, "I made it, you guys can make it too, come on."
So I think that's what's cool about it.
- Go, go, go. Yeah!
- Now my dreams aren't so much on me, to be honest.
Like it's more for my kids.
It's about their dreams and that's what I dream about
is making sure their dreams are fulfilled.
- Ohhh!
- Nip said that, actually,
the greatest human act is to inspire.
It's inspirational.
- This, what we got from him
was honestly a gift. - That was my fault too.
- No, no, no.
Even like in my early days, I didn't take them for granted.
Like I would be in awe like,
"Man, I just talked to Scotty Pippen.
I just met Rasheed Wallace."
'Cause these are....
Like I collected basketball cards.
I could you tell you about any basketball player,
what number they wore, anything.
So even then I was thankful and I was like,
"Wow, I'm really on the court with these guys."
But now even more so because the end
is closer than the beginning, you know?
So you're able to really reflect.
And you're like, "Wow."
When I retire, whenever that is,
when I'm just home sitting around, I be like,
"Yeah, I had a commercial with Jay-Z.
I had a commercial with Michael Jordan."
Like, Michael Jordan gave me his shoes
that he wore against the Bulls for the first time.
He signed them for me.
I have Michael Jordan's first and last shoes
he ever played in, wore against the Bulls.
He signed them for me.
But like all these crazy stories, like
I think about 'em a lot more.
But when you're in the moment, you're just going,
but you're still like, "That was cool, but yeah,
I'll think about it later."
- If you were to drop one last album,
what would that album be?
- It would be the fun album.
It would be
the funnest album I ever made.
Because you know time is limited, right?
So you don't have the luxury of saying,
"O.K., if I don't do my all on this album,
I got two more albums coming out."
Like it would be the funnest album I ever made, for sure.
- Take it back to the mixtape.
- It'd be mixtape era Mal.
- Cut. - Cut.
That's the gavel.