Ex-NBA-Wachmann Jamal Crawfords Signature, exhibited the coach's long-term legacy in the New Rainier Beach Gymnasium

SEATTLE -The retired 20-year-old NBA veteran Jamal Crawford was unexpectedly emotional. The long -time boy basketball coach Mike Bethea was modest and visibly overjoyed.

The two men who associate many like the face of the basketball of the Rainier Beach High School were honored on Saturday when the public got the first glance at the new indoor sports complex of the school – referred to as Michael S. Bethea Athletic Complex.

Of course, the jewel is the pristine basketball court with many state-of-the-art accessories.

It is all part of the almost 283 million dollar project to build a new high school and the old one that has stood since 1960.

“You had a lot of input from Jamal and me,” said Bethea.

While the old high school had its own charm, some of the necessities that other high schools had were not. Classrooms were converted into scope at night at night. And Bethea's office was essentially a MOP cabinet.

The new sports facility offers more from all-trainer offices, team classrooms, meeting rooms for open-air community, a larger weight room and much more trophy display cabinets.

In the high school there is a main basketball floor for the university game -and an auxiliary court on the upper floor, which makes room for the grandstand seats on the game evening.

The new high school will sit almost 2,000 spectators of 1,400 in the old high school. And they all have a beautiful view of the new, wall-laying jumbootron, which have a video replay capacity and baskets that are not so overcrowded by the basal liners (almost like the open-air backdrop that they would see in the Tacoma Dome).

And the biggest upgrade?

“The changing rooms,” said Bethea. “You now have basketball -specific lockers. And we will cut out parts of the old floor and place in the middle of the floor of the changing room.”

The court floor itself also has interesting features – lined with graphics of waves and Viking boats at sea near the basic lines.

And of course Crawford's name Signature accompanies the court names along each sidelines.

“I perfected this as a child because I hoped to be famous one day,” said Crawford. “I had this part down.”

One of the unique features that Crawford likes likes is the window on the east side of the high school that invites natural light.

“It is the only (high school) gym that I saw … contains in the window,” said Crawford. “It causes a different feeling. You come in and you are happy. You come in and you don't want to go.”

While Crawford got his first insight into the new facility a few months ago when it was not finished, Bethea took more visits to monitor progress more frequently. His wife Virginia was a large part of the project.

“Every time I came in to look,” said Bethea, “it was like the first time.”

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