CHICAGO _ As soon as Wednesday's news landed that Danny Crawford is retiring after 32 seasons as one of the NBA's most respected officials, fellow Chicago native Dwyane Wade tweeted congratulations and "nothing but respect."
Naturally, Crawford, who turns 64 in November, didn't see it.
"I'm not on social media, so I'm totally oblivious to it," Crawford said in a phone conversation.
That's classic Crawford, whose run of 23 straight NBA Finals culminated with the season-ending Game 5 assignment and who also added three All-Star Game assignments to more than 2,000 regular-season and more than 300 postseason games.
Crawford didn't see the outpouring of support from Wade and countless others because the West Side product and former guard at Northeastern Illinois always focused on what he could control _ the substance, not the sideshow.
It's no wonder the respect level for him leaguewide trumped even his gaudy resume.
"When I walked on the court, all I demanded from the players was the same respect that I was going to give them," Crawford said. "I did that my whole career. It was not about me. It was their game. I was out there to manage the game whenever I was needed."
Before his NBA run began in 1985, Crawford officiated eight years of college games and four in the Continental Basketball Association. That's a lot of calls. That's a lot of commitment.
"I wanted to leave healthy. I wanted to leave on top of my game," Crawford said. "And we have such a young staff. People started saying, 'Are you the most senior guy on the staff?' My answer to that was, 'Yeah, I guess I am.' And I didn't like that title.
"It's a physical sport. And the pace of the game has changed _ oh, my gosh _ tremendously since I first came on board. Kids are getting younger and faster. And I'm getting older and slower. So we got a problem."
With that, Crawford laughed. He knows how blessed he has been.
"I went into the start of last season telling myself I was going to retire," he said. "But I was going to go through the whole season to try to talk myself out of it. And I couldn't talk myself out of it.
"Referees have a tendency to get so locked in that we don't notice the external stuff around us. All we're concerned with is the court. I made a point to go into the season and be a lot more aware of my surroundings and feel the energy in the buildings. And I felt it all. And it's a wonderful feeling.
"The NBA is a wonderful environment. It's been great to me and to my family. I've seen the world. There's nothing but positives to say about the NBA and my career. But you know what? I don't think I'm going to miss it."
That's why, even though an advisory role has been discussed within the league, Crawford is going to take some time to step away and just watch games. He did so as his son, Drew, played at Northwestern.
But now Crawford plans to go to high school and college games _ he even said some elementary games _ and enjoy basketball without the responsibility of officiating it or watching offspring.
"I want to see how much I miss it," he said. "And then make a decision on what's next. If I'm bored, I think I have something to offer to the younger guys that I would hope the NBA would be interested in utilizing."
Crawford called James Harden and Russell Westbrook, the league's reigning most valuable player, the two most difficult current players to officiate. Shaquille O'Neal holds Crawford's all-time title in that department.
"We were always two years behind catching up with all the stuff Shaq would do on the court," Crawford said. "Shaq was the most difficult big man to referee in the history of the game. He was so massive, so physical, so dominant. Players would just flop because they didn't know any other way to guard the guy. We had to concern ourselves with whether they're flopping or if Shaq was just knocking the hell out of the guy.
"Harden has brought a different element to the game that's legal but crafty, and for us, it's not flopping. It's just craftiness that makes him a difficult guy to referee. Russell Westbrook's pace is such to where he has changed how we transition up and down the floor with his speed and intensity going to the basket. Your concentration has to be on another level to referee that guy."
As for coaches riding him, Crawford chuckled as he singled out Larry Brown and former Bulls coach Kevin Loughery.
"Unbelievable guys but unrelenting," he said. "You had to work hard to not allow them to break your concentration."
Crawford's concentration can focus elsewhere now. Asked for his dominant memory from working the Warriors' title-clinching victory to end his final season, his answer seemed fitting.
"They didn't leave talking about us," Crawford said.
