Utah Jazz: Jae Crowder Has Found His Perfect Home

Fan favorite Jae Crowder is, at long last, at home in the NBA, and it’s with the Utah Jazz.

I remember clearly when I first took note of Jae Crowder. He was playing for the Dallas Mavericks at the time, and I was feeling frustrated but impressed by how this huge guy with long hair was canning threes and hustling hard, making life difficult for my Utah Jazz, even as a role player.

He made quite an impression on me at the time.

Fast forward a few years. Crowder had settled in Boston, where he had become an important (if underappreciated) piece for the Celtics’ overachieving squad. During the 2016-17 season, he was averaging 13.9 points on career high shooting percentages (39.8 percent from three and 46.3 percent from the field overall).

Playing gritty, energetic defense to match his offensive production, Crowder seemed to have found the perfect fit on a contending team.

But something went wrong.

Utah’s Gordon Hayward was quickly approaching free agency, and Boston’s fan base had their eyes fixed on acquiring him. This culminated in a dramatic match-up between the Utah Jazz and the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden on January 3rd, 2017, during which the Boston faithful cheered loudly for Hayward.

Jazz fans were certainly bothered by this display, but the individual who felt most attacked was none other than Boston Celtic Jae Crowder, who took to Twitter to express his feelings:

You see, for Jae, this wasn’t a simple matter of enthusiastic fans recruiting a great player. It was an open statement from the fans that they didn’t appreciate Crowder’s own contributions, and they were trying to woo his replacement right in front of his face.

One can understand why this would feel upsetting to a player who was leaving it all out on the court for Boston, night in and night out. I imagine it felt like being on a dinner date with someone who focused on flirting with someone at another table.

Jilted Jae went on to interact positively with a Twitter follower who suggested he’d be welcome back in Dallas, and also had the following interaction, captured in screenshot here but later deleted, with a Boston fan defending the fans’ behavior and suggesting Crowder should get over it:

History marched on, Gordon Hayward left the Utah Jazz and signed with Boston, and Jae Crowder found himself playing with LeBron James (and Celtics teammate Isaiah Thomas) in Cleveland. The half-season with the Cavaliers wasn’t kind to Jae, as he never quite clicked with that team’s LeBron-heavy offensive schemes. Crowder’s many strengths, magnified in Boston, were largely left untapped in Cleveland.

His scoring average plummeted to 8.6 points per game, and his three-point shooting regressed to 32.8 percent. Most significantly, a personal tragedy had coincided with the transaction that sent him to Ohio: Jae’s mother passed away about five minutes after he told her the news of the trade.

One can only imagine the difficulty of combining such a personal trial with the challenge of a dramatic professional change. Understandably, the result was a troubled performance to begin the season.

Which brings us to the trade deadline. Rodney Hood was Cleveland-bound, and Jae Crowder was headed to Utah, leaving one of the most turbulent cultures in the NBA for one of the happiest, most stable locker rooms in the league.

Crowder played hard for the Jazz through the remainder of the season, providing a gritty edge and much-appreciated hustle for a team that had lost Thabo Sefolosha, their primary stretch four, to injury. Jae quickly endeared himself to Jazz Nation as a fan favorite.

Not only that; Crowder also fit seamlessly into Utah’s brotherhood of players, often acting as the first player to throw himself into physical altercations in defense of his new teammates, perhaps most notably Ricky Rubio, who seems to be disproportionately targeted by opposing players at times.

For example:

This willingness to put his body and emotions on the line for his newfound Utah Jazz teammates clearly endeared him to the team, and those relationships have only continued to deepen and grow. Rubio in particular has a connection with Crowder, related to the family tragedies they have both experienced, as our own Jared Woodcox detailed in a recent article:

Utah Jazz: Ricky Rubio leaves heartfelt note on touching Jae Crowder Instagram post

The Utah Jazz further displayed their camaraderie off the court with a touching social media exchange between Jae Crowder and Ricky Rubio.

Just as impressive has been Crowder’s impact on the court for Utah Jazz so far this season. Through 13 games, Jae is averaging a much-improved 14 points, at 61.1 percent shooting from two-point range, while also hitting many timely three-pointers during the young season.

Notably, Crowder is also in much better shape this year, having cut his body fat percentage and gotten leaner.

Most importantly, his teammates have his back, and he has theirs. Utah Jazz fans love him, and he feels and appreciates that love and support:

https://twitter.com/CJC9BOSS/status/1061139576906047488

Quin Snyder, his devoted coach, empowers him:

When you combine a grateful fan base, a hard-working player, an empowering coach, and supportive teammates, you have a recipe for something special.

It’s been a long and bumpy road for Crowder since those days in Dallas, but Utah’s new favorite son is enjoying some of the greatest on-court success of his career, and, more importantly, he seems truly happy. It’s a joy to watch.

Welcome home, Jae. Utah loves you.