Guess who has an official high school coaching win in Washington basketball? It is Seattle icon Jamal Crawford

The former 20-year NBA veteran gets late notice to guide his alma mater to a 3A Metro victory over Eastside Catholic after longtime coach Mike Bethea is out with illness

With longtime coach Mike Bethea unavailable because of illness, former Rainier Beach star and ex-NBA standout Jamal Crawford filled in and got his first win / Photo by Todd Milles

SAMMAMISH, Wash. - These days, Seattle basketball celebrity Jamal Crawford is a floater. He still analyzes NBA basketball on television. He is a community fixture, both inside and outside of the sport. And, as he explained, he is the "lower-level assistant" coach on the Rainier Beach High School boys staff.

And for the Vikings-Eastside Catholic rematch of last year's Class 3A championship game Monday night, Crawford was planning on being part of the crew.

That is, until longtime coach Mike Bethea phoned him early in the afternoon to say he was too sick to coach - thus handing over the huddle reins for one night to Crawford.

Under Crawford, 44, Rainier Beach did not miss a beat, bolting out to a 19-point lead just 4:43 into the game before taking a 99-72 victory over the reigning WIAA champions on their home floor.

And even though Bethea is the team's official head coach, Crawford is credited with his first coaching victory, said WIBCA president Nalin Sood, the former Mountlake Terrace coach.

"I will never forget it," said Crawford, who led Rainier Beach to the 1998 state championship as a player before going off to Michigan - then a 20-year NBA playing career as one of the best sixth men in league history.

"One of my highlights - and I didn't know it would be that until 1 p.m."

That is the time Bethea, a nine-time WIAA championship coach called Crawford to ask if he'd fill in as the lead voice.

As busy as Crawford is - he just signed a contract with NBC Sports as one of its lead NBA analysts starting next season - he does attend Rainier Beach practices. He even coached the team during fall league.

But a real game against the defending state champions?

"What is crazy, as I was walking around before I came here, and my wife was cracking up, laughing," Crawford said. "She was like, 'I have not seen you moving around like this.’ I was so jittery."

It helped that the Vikings sank their first three 3-pointers and broke out to a 24-5 lead midway through the first quarter.

"That relaxed me," Crawford said. "But when they came back (8-0 Eastside Catholic run), it was like, 'OK, I have to start making adjustments and look at the game a different way.'"

All game long, Crawford remained a calm presence, occasionally standing up to give player instructions or inquire about officiating calls.

In fact, early in the second half after a rash of calls went against the Vikings, Crawford asked a nearby referee, "What are they (Crusaders) doing that we aren't doing?"

In the end, Rainier Beach's offensive firepower was too much. Newcomer Keaundre Morris led all scorers with 27 points. Jaylen Petty and Kaden Powers added 23 points. The Vikings made 10 3-pointers.

"It felt good to have someone who knows the game and played the game at so many levels as coach," Morris said. "And he reads the floor a lot, which was helping us to see all the mismatches we couldn’t see by ourselves."

In Seattle basketball circles, Crawford is mentioned as the most viable successor to Bethea, who is in his 31st season and has missed games before due to health-related issues.

"Who knows what the future holds," Crawford said. "It would be an honor if one day when he’s like, 'You know what, I am going to ride off in the sunset' (to be the next coach). I am not sure I could say no to that."

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