Let's get some of the particulars out of the way first. The Golden State Warriors somehow found a way to get two quality role players onto their roster for their 10th man on the roster, a pack of black-n-milds, a used PS3 controller and some jasmine incense. Per the Woj Bomber a.k.a. Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski:
As part of a three-team deal, the Boston Celtics have traded guards Jordan Crawford and MarShon Brooks to the Golden State Warriors, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The Warriors will send guard Toney Douglas to the Miami Heat, and Miami sends center Joel Anthony and a future first-round pick and second-round pick to the Celtics, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Miami will send a first-round pick it owns from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Celtics, but that pick becomes two second-round picks should the Sixers miss the playoffs in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
From a pure NBA standpoint, this is a minor ripple in a big pond. Yes, this makes the Warriors better and it'll be interesting to see how Mark Jackson incorporates two more scoring guards into a depth that's rife with scoring. Also, this must suck for Joel Anthony being traded to Boston after being on Miami for forever, but hey … early summer vacation! Oh, and I really hope Toney Douglas finds a gig because methinks he'll be getting cut by Miami.
Anyway, the headliner in this trade is Jordan Crawford. The man, who will now be playing for his fourth NBA team since joining the league in 2010. The myth, as the one who probably was the first guy to ever dunk on LeBron James. The legend, the guy who along with Jacob Pullen, Tu Holloway and Denis Clemente … allowed Gus Johnson to give us one of the greater moments in March Madness history when the Xavier Musketeers and the Kansas State Wildcats faced off in the Sweet 16.
It really is a shame that Gus Johnson isn't in our lives more. Once CBS and Gus couldn't come to an agreement on a future contract, Gus took his talents to FOX and the Big Ten Conference to call games. Hey, I'm never going to be mad about the man going to get his money, but I'll never forgive CBS for allowing the man to jump ship. Gus Johnson was put on this earth to call tremendous basketball games, and when Jordan Crawford's Musketeers and Jacob Pullen's Wildcats squared off in Salt Lake City … glorious things happened.
Three things quickly.
ONE: I think I can speak for Kenny Masenda and Jonathan Tillman in saying that the love that we had for The Jacob Pullen Era at Kansas State was unreal. The man was 6 feet of fire and brimstone, had the cajones to take any shot in the world, and had one epic beard as well. (Sidenote, I also loved Denis Clemente. Simply on the strength of him being Puerto Rican. Yep.)
TWO: The Jordan Crawford Era at Xavier was a fun ride. It only lasted one year, as the man transferred in from Indiana and jumped ship to Xavier after Kelvin Sampson got caught sending 23,184 text messages to potential recruits. For Xavier, he was the potential superstar that rarely came to its Evanston campus in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was capable of things that hadn't been seen since the days of Byron Larkin and David West. And when he paired up with Tu Holloway, things got epic.
THREE: Two epic backcourts facing off against each other, Gus Johnson screaming poetic euphoria at the top of his lungs, a crowd in Utah that was up to the challenge, and egregious shot after egregious shot was made in the crunch-time moments of a game that would give the winner a shot at the Elite 8.
March Madness is only two months away. I'm already thinking about my brackets.
Eddie Maisonet is the founder and editor emeritus of The Sports Fan Journal. Currently, he serves as an associate editor for ESPN.com. He is an unabashed Russell Westbrook and Barry Switzer apologist, owns over 100 fitteds and snapbacks, and lives by Reggie Jackson’s famous quote, “I am the straw that stirs the drink.”