Jamal Crawford Calls Out Parents For Having A Bad Influence On Kids And Destroying AAU Culture

"Being in the gym over these last few months in national games- watching, listening, talking to, hearing.. There is alot wrong with AAU. BUT the PARENTS are near the top of the list. It's sickening. The delusion that exist is crazy. If we're always making excuse's for our children's behavior where it has to be someone else's fault, and we're not teaching them accountability, we're setting them up to fail. If we're always criticizing a coach or program who is given their own time to benefit YOUR child's development and well being, and that's not enough, you should coach them to give them all you want them to have. As parents we have to be better. Looking back when I played AAU, the thing I take the most pride in, is my mom or dad NEVER complained to one coach I ever played for from 8 years old on. They said 'you want all the things you say you want, figure it out and go get better' looking back, I wear that with pride.."

Crawford makes some very valid points there. Parents love their children to death and never really want to believe they can ever be at fault for anything. They generally tend to blame someone else, be it their child's teammates or the coaching staff. They don't want to hold their kids accountable and instead, put them on a pedestal.

Positive motivation and a loving environment are key to success, but the moment accountability is thrown out of the window, it is the kid's future that is in jeopardy. You can only ever truly get better when you accept you made a mistake. You then work on rectifying it and improve as a result.

If your parent makes you believe you were never in the wrong, even when you clearly were, you will never hold yourself accountable when you grow older. We are all products of our upbringings and it usually takes a lot for a person to change as the years go by.

Crawford, who last played in the NBA in the 2019-20 season for the Brooklyn Nets, got into coaching at the AAU level some years ago. It didn't take long for him to take issue with the parents, as evidenced by a tweet from 2021.

"Coaching in this AAU world now and I’m LOVING it! But I can honestly say on my basketball journey, I’m glad my parents didn’t have me play against younger kids for a false sense of security/ accomplishment .."

Crawford was trying to be nice there compared to his recent post, where he didn't hold back. The 43-year-old may have seen the situation get worse as the years have gone by and felt something had to be said on the matter.

As for the AAU team Crawford coaches, it is called Seattle Rotary Style. His son J.J. Crawford plays on the team as well. Jamal would hope the kid can follow in his footsteps and have a successful career in the NBA. Crawford played 20 seasons in the league and averaged 14.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 0.9 steals per game.