Team-first attitude makes Ross a valuable sixth man
No basketball player, from the time the high tops are first laced up, ever strives to be that guy who comes off the bench.
Everybody wants to be a starter. Players quit teams because they are not deemed worthy of being in the starting lineup. Players sulk and complain.
As Jamal Crawford puts it, it takes a special breed to come off the bench and perform as if you are a starter. He should know. Crawford, a 38-year-old veteran of eight NBA teams, is the only player in league history to win the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award three times (2010, 2014 and 2016).
“I think it’s an unselfish mindset because you’re putting the team first. You really are,” said Crawford, now a member of the Phoenix Suns who talked about his role following the Suns’ loss to the Orlando Magic on Friday night in Phoenix.
“I think so many guys never grew up coming off the bench. … It feels weird at first, but as you start to feel comfortable and get outside yourself and check your ego at the door, you realize it’s about team success and you try to star in your role. You try to bring that punch, bring the best you can bring to help the team.”
That’s exactly what fellow Pacific Northwest star Terrence Ross, who grew up in Portland, is bringing to the Magic this season. His ego is checked, his mentality is team-first and his confidence is currently sky high after an impressive run during the first 23 games of the season.
Ross is off to the best start of his eight-season NBA career. He is averaging a career high 14.3 points per game and he’s been incredibly accurate with his shooting, hitting 45 percent of his field goals and 40 percent of his 3-point attempts. He’s also averaging three rebounds, two assists and one steal per game.
“Your team starts to feed off of it and tonight he may have been their leading scorer, or one of them,” Crawford said of Ross, who scored 21 points — second on the team to Nikola Vucevic’s 25 — during the Magic’s 99-85 victory over the Suns.
Crawford, too, came off the bench and scored 18 points for Phoenix, also ranking second on his team.
“He was tough to deal with and he played within himself,” Crawford said of Ross. “They do a good job of getting him shots, giving him looks, so he doesn’t have to think as much. He’s just playing the goal. He’s accepted his role I think when you are halfway in and halfway out, that’s a problem.
“If you fully give yourself to the team and accept whatever coach wants and sees fit for you, that’s when you have success and he’s having that.”
Crawford, a Seattle native, is well thought-of in the league, especially among his Pacific Northwest brethren.
“Jamal is a legend man. Jamal is a rare breed,” Ross said. “What he’s able to do and how he goes about doing it, how much of a gym rat he is . ... He’s a rare breed.”
Ross is become a rare breed in his own right. When he comes into the game late in the first quarter each night, there is no hesitation in his step, nor in his shot. His confidence is off the charts right now and when the ball gets in his hands on offense the opposition better get a hand in his face, although the way Ross is playing, even contesting can’t stop him.
He’s also certainly not shy. When he gets on the floor, Ross is going to take advantage of his opportunities. The ball is going up.
“I kinda always felt like that growing up,” Ross said of his confidence. “My thing this year is probably credited to all the work I put toward it this summer.”
Ross missed nearly all of last season with an injured leg that included a sprained MCL and a non-displaced fracture of his tibial plateau. He only played 24 games last season, and only played 24 the year before as well.
So to get all the rust off once he was cleared last spring, Ross busted his tail to get back in game shape and back into the right mindset needed to be a major contributor for this Magic team — off the bench.
He says there is a benefit to coming off the bench.
“Yeah, a little bit. You can always see how the game’s going and what the game needs and how you can effect it in a positive way,” Ross said. “I think that’s one of the plus sides of coming off the bench.”
And that’s a good thing for the Magic. Ross is at a peak in his career, playing with probably more confidence that ever before, and Crawford has been a big influence.
If he keeps it up, who knows, he might even win one of those awards that have become attached to Crawford’s name.
“I’ve known Jamal for some time, so I see him every now and then. We’re always playing open gym, so you kinda just get that feel and you kinda get his vibe so you kinda feed off that,” Ross said. defenders