Portland Trail Blazers guard Jamal Crawford joined Isaac Ropp and Jason Scukanec on 1080 AM The Fan for an extended interview. Audio here.
Here's a partial transcript of the interview that includes Crawford's thoughts on his close friend, former Blazers guard Brandon Roy.
Did you talk with Brandon Roy before you signed with the Blazers?
"We talked about everything. Brandon was probably the last person I talked to before I decided to come to Portland. And we talked yesterday, we talked yesterday on the way to the game actually, we talk every single day. It's always been like that. Now, it's such a unique perspective with him being here and being the guy for all those years. He knows everybody around here, what makes this person tick, how to talk to this person. It's such a unique perspective that he has. I'm always picking his brain on different things, different circumstances. We talked about that, we always wanted to play together. For him to be able to clear up some money for me to come here, it also shows how selfless Brandon is."
How is Brandon Roy doing now?
"He's doing good, he's doing really good. I think he's thinking about going back to finish up that degree and maybe even get into some commentating. Brandon is so smart I would love to hear his perspective on the game of basketball on that type of stage."
Will Brandon Roy come back to a Blazers game and get that ovation?
"I think so. No question about it. One thing about Brandon is that Brandon's a very loyal person, he knows the fans out there absolutely adore him, he adores them. Brandon loves the fans and loves the city of Portland. I remember in Seattle a lot of times, all the guys are usually there in summer, he's like 'I'm just going to stay in Portland for a week' or 'I'm going to be up in Portland for a few days.' I definitely think he'll come back whenever he's ready."
Will Brandon Roy try to play professional basketball again?
"I don't know. I don't know. Honestly we were working out before the lockout was over with and all that, before he got back to his physicals and all that stuff. If you just walked into the gym and didn't know anything on the outside world about his knees or anything. You would be like, 'I see why he's a three-time All-Star.' We went at it. We had some battles. This is coming into camp this year. So when he had the physical and all the stuff happened it kind of caught me off guard because I saw how good he looked in workouts from playing together. He talked to me about it and I totally understood where he was coming from. He had to do what's best for him and his family. You never say never, but I don't know. I honestly couldn't answer that question."
-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter