Jamal Crawford is always a solid choice to talk to because he’s been around the game for so long. It’s safe to say he knows a thing or two after 19-years in the league and he’s showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. He’s the veteran guy mentoring not only the young players but also other veteran players like Jimmer Fredette.

“Go shoot,” Crawford tells Jimmer. “Go 0-10. Go 0-8. I’d rather him do that than go 0-1. He’s the guy, he’s a torch. He can get going. That’s energy for your team so I told him not to lose that no matter what.”

Crawford has always been a guy who stays true to himself and who he is as both a person and a player and always preaches that to his teammates.

“Just with him I want him to keep that swagger,” Crawford said. “Don’t ever change that.”

Another semi-veteran leader has been Tyler Johnson who the Suns acquired from the Miami Heat back in February. As mentioned in previous articles, he learned from one of the best in Dwyane Wade and carried that over to Phoenix.

“He’s such a leader,” Crawford said about Johnson. “He has no agenda whatsoever. He’s still only in his fourth year but it’s almost like he is in his 10th year because he has seen so much already.”

Johnson has been in the playoffs twice already and knows what it’s like to come from an organization that has established a culture. The addition of Johnson along with Kelly Oubre Jr. (who also came from a winning culture) has already started to shift the Suns franchise. It’s something that will take more time though.

“You gotta enjoy the process,” Crawford said. “It’s not always going to be once you go forward, you’re going to get it. That comes but you have to keep chipping away at it and keep building your foundation and we’re doing that.”

Devin Booker has been making headlines lately for his level of play at just 22 years old. Crawford has had the opportunity to play along side greats and train with high profile players like Michael Jordan. He sees something in Booker that separates him and puts him at an elite level.

“It’s unbelievable and his mentality at such a young age and that’s what I think is more impressive,” Crawford said. “He’s not playing to score. He’s playing to try to win.”

Booker said earlier this season his goal was to be more vocal on the court and be more of a leader. He has done that. Now, his goal is to win games.

After practices you can catch Booker going one on one against Elie Okobo, Jamal Crawford or Josh Jackson. Sometimes it gets so heated that Booker chucks the ball at the wall and screams some profanity but it’s all apart of the growth.

“It’s fun because we all talk trash,” Crawford said. “We all get the best of each other at some point. It’s all competitive but it’s all in good fun. It gets heated sometimes.”

Those are the moments that prepare you for in game situations.

“He gets in a lot of one on one situations and instead of thinking, what should I do, it almost becomes second nature because I was doing this against Jamal, I was doing this against Elie, I was doing this against Josh (Jackson),” Crawford said.

The Suns face the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night, a team they beat on a last-second basket from Booker who was in one of those iso situations.

“That shot, we were doing one on one the day before so it just becomes second nature,” Crawford said.

Booker has scored back-to-back 50-plus point games becoming the youngest player in NBA history to do so. We’ll see if he can continue that streak against Memphis.