Atlanta
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Though Chris Crawford has started only 92 games in the past seven seasons, you would be unwise to cross him off your list of players to watch. One of only two players to return from the beginning of last year (2003 first round pick Boris Diaw being the other), Crawford is now the longest tenured Hawk by an incredible margin of six full seasons. Yet he has not been marked on the roster as the captain of the team. What gives?
On the official Hawks website (see Newslines below), and across many media, today is Chris Crawford day. October 8 is the day we all celebrate... what exactly? That recently extended GM Billy Knight has decided to build around Crawford as his franchise player? Or that he wasn't able to move him like he moved everybody else in the past 50-some-odd weeks?
Or perhaps that he is one of those rare players who is worth his value? He is set to earn about $3 million this year on an expiring contract. His value in trade and in production has never been higher than it is right now, and if he is given the minutes and the opportunity to continue the double-figure scoring that he output towards the end of last season, he could bring back a draft pick at the trade deadline from a team looking to get under the cap.
Crawford had perhaps his best season last year after he was thrust into the starting lineup after the All-Star break and he made the most of it. The former second-round pick has spent his entire career with Atlanta and it will be interesting to see what happens to him.
Will he stay? Will he go? He is the last Hawk to remember Atlanta being in the playoffs.
Why hasn't he had the little "C" put next to his name on the roster?
We will see.
NEXT GAME
The Atlanta Hawks (28-54 last season) host hometown favorite Dwight Howard and the just-as-rebuilt Orlando Magic (21-61 last season) on Wednesday, October 13th at the Macon Coliseum in Macon, Georgia, home of this season's training camp. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. EDT. There are no scheduled broadcasts of this game at this time. Tickets are available for this game at Macon Coliseum.
TEAM NOTES
On Sunday, October 10 the public will be treated to a free viewingof an Atlanta Hawks practice and scrimmage on the main floor of Philips Arena. Following the workout, players and coaches will be available for autographs, and coach Mike Woodson is set to answer questions during a special Q&A session. Keep an eye out for the Hawks Dance Team and mascots, as they patrol the arena posing for photos and signing autographs.
INJURY UPDATE
No injuries to report.
Micah Hart ofHawks.comwrites: Chris Crawford has seen a lot of things in his NBA career. Since becoming a member of the Hawks in 1997, the seventh-year forward has seen a merry-go-round of GMs (two), coaches (four), and teammates (Crawford has shared locker space with 85 different players).In all that time, Crawford never imagined he would end up where he is today – the longest tenured member of the team by half a decade.
John Manasso ofThe Atlanta Journal-Constitutionwrites: The whirlwind of general manager Billy Knight's remaking of the Hawks has blown itself out. On the changing roster, only one player has been on the team since before last season.And who is that well-known commodity? ... On the Hawks, that player is forward Chris Crawford, who has averaged 6.6 points and 36 games per season entering his eighth year with the team. "If you would have told me that five years ago, I never would have believed you," said Crawford, the 51st pick in the 1997 draft who was a third-team Conference USA selection as a senior at Marquette.
Eddie Sefko ofThe Dallas Morning Newswrites: Of their many off-season acquisitions, none arrived at Mavericks training camp lugging more uncertainty on his back than Alan Henderson.Actually, he had uncertainty about his back, not on it. The 6-9 power forward missed all but six games last season for the Atlanta Hawks because of back pain that doctors misdiagnosed as a sprain. Eventually, tests showed a tear in one of his disks.