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Isaiah Thomas recruiting Jamal Crawford to join Celtics

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

With Kevin Durant's free-agency pitch in the books, the league's tiniest recruiter is turning his sights toward the next free agent.

Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas clamored for his good friend Jamal Crawford to join him in Beantown following reports the Los Angeles Clippers had made low-ball offers to the veteran shooting guard.

Thomas' bond with Crawford is a true testament to the brothership that unites basketball players from Seattle. Thomas was often homesick when he attended high school in New York, and Crawford (a former Knick) looked after him on weekends.

"It was my home away from home," Thomas explained of Crawford's mentorship on The Vertical Podcast with Adrian Wojnarowski.

"He took me under his wing and made it a little better situation for me, because like you said, I was homesick, and it was probably the toughest time of my life being away from my family and my friends. So I would go to Knicks games, I would cheer on Jamal at his apartment in White Plains, and just try to have fun with it, because I was in a tough time in my life when it was depressing for me to be that far away from home at a young age."

Now that Thomas is an All-Star - something Crawford never accomplished - he's looking to return the favor. The Celtics recruited Al Horford, and are hot for Durant. With the stars potentially aligning in Boston, Crawford could change coasts and find himself on a championship contender.

The 36-year-old Crawford won Sixth Man of the Year for the third time this past season after averaging 14.2 points in 26.9 minutes per game. He's also drawn interest from the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, and Orlando Magic.

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