The undermanned Utah Jazz unsurprisingly lost to the Denver Nuggets in a blowout loss. Not much can be said about it other than what can anyone expect since they were starting Micah Potter and didn't have Lauri Markkanen?
The bigger headline of the night is that Jazz alum Jae Crowder made his NBA return tonight with the Sacramento Kings. After going through the NBA offseason without being added to so much as a training camp roster, Crowder's career has resumed with the Sacramento Kings.
Not only did he makes his season debut for the Kings, but he even started for them. Their opponent was no joke either, as they went up against the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team loaded with Jazz alumni.
Crowder put up a respectable statline, scoring eight point, which included two three-pointers, with his most notable number being a plus/minus of plus-16, which was a team high for the Kings. It's safe to say that he factored into their win over the TImberwolves.
Jae Crowder's first bucket as a King is a C&S triple to beat the Q1 buzzer. pic.twitter.com/BOfBQoD0vQ
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) November 28, 2024
It's only one game, but that was about as productive as the Kings would have liked to see from Crowder. Needless to say, the Kings have every reason to see what they have with Crowder until he proves
Crowder's debut is proof of having faith rewarded
It is great to see that Crowder's faith in himself has been rewarded, and he, in turn, is rewarding the Kings' faith in him. Not too long ago, he seemed like a cautionary tale because he bet on himself in the way he did, only to backfire pretty spectacularly.
Granted that is still true, but his unremarkable tenure with the Bucks didn't let that get him down, and look where he is now. His NBA career might not be where it was and is probably entering its dog days, but he's still out there fighting as best he could.
Since the Kings started, that shows that they trust him. This probably wasn't the way in which Crowder would have preferred resuming his NBA career - in that it happened a month into the 2024-25 season - but beggars can't be choosers, and look who came begging for him!
He isn't the only Jazz alum who has made an NBA comeback. After everything that backfired for him, Dante Exum has also revived his NBA career. It may not amount to too much, but in a season where the Jazz don't have too much going for them right now, at least they can take pride in knowing esteemed alumni are succeeding in continuing their NBA careers!
Happy Thanksgiving, Jazz fans!~