When I left Boston I took my heart out of it….

The one paragraph(I made bold)in this story says a lot. Certain folks can learn from this.



‘When I left Boston, I took my heart out of it’: Jae Crowder found his voice, and place, on Suns

PHOENIX – The statistics indicate that Jae Crowder was the Suns’ worst player on Christmas.
Tests of the eye and heart say he is one of their most important players.
“He’s unlike any player that I’ve had, in his position,” Phoenix coach Monty Williams said.

The Suns lost their biggest game of the season to date, 116-107, to an otherwise depleted Warriors team that was still fortunate enough to have Stephen Curry. Golden State and Phoenix are jockeying for first place in the West, and the NBA’s best record, and the Warriors took the top spot behind 33 points from Curry and a surprising 19 points from Otto Porter Jr.

Golden State was without wings Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole, due to the NBA’s health and safety protocol, and Andre Iguodala to injury, so the Suns were supposed to have an advantage there. Crowder not only missed eight of his 11 shots, and six of his eight 3s, but several were wide-open looks. The Suns were outscored by 15 points in Crowder’s 32 minutes – no Phoenix player had a worse plus-minus Saturday. He had more fouls (four) than rebounds (three).

No NBA player’s season boils down to one regular-season game, or even a few of them. Yes, Crowder is in a mini-slump, shooting 7 of 22 with 18 points in his past three games combined. Also, Devin Booker (5-of-19) struggled against the Warriors, and the Suns were so out of character with their lack of hustle, compared with the opponent, and non-existent ball movement (just 20 assists) that Williams uncharacteristically called out his team immediately after the game.

Take a couple of steps back, and look at the Suns’ full picture with Crowder in it, and it’s a much better view. The Suns remain one of the best, feel-good stories on the court. Crowder is one of their anchors on defense and he is a vocal leader who strives for team-wide accountability, even though he is a role player, which is why he is so special to Williams.

“Typically, you’d be grateful to get that from your best players, and we do have that in Chris (Paul) and Book,” Williams said. “But to have a guy in Jae’s position, who’s a high-level rotation player, take on that mantle of leadership has been really good for us. And, you know, he’s fearless.”

Crowder is 31 years old and this is his 10th pro season. He’s played for seven teams, and the last two he joined – the Suns and Heat – went to the Finals the year he arrived. Williams seeks Crowder’s counsel on matters inside the Suns’ locker room, and didn’t realize how valuable of an asset Crowder was until last season’s playoff run. Now, Williams considers him “invaluable.”

Crowder said his locker-room policing is something he’s tried to do for most of his career, dating to at least his time in Boston, where he played longer (202 games) than any of his other six stops. He says he’s been that way since playing quarterback on the football field, all the way through his senior year of high school at Villa Rica in Georgia. Never mind that he is now built like a linebacker, at about 6-foot-6 and 235 pounds.

“I am obsessed with winning,” Crowder told me. “I have this saying when we get to the six-minute mark in the fourth quarter, ‘It’s time to make winning plays.’ That’s the only way you can win a game in the NBA is to make winning plays on both ends. And I just, I don’t want to hone in on it being one shot or one rebound. It’s a collective thing, a lot of different things that happen that can change the game. So I think that’s what I bring to a team. I bring a winning mentality and I bring winning tendencies of just trying to get the game won.”

During the Suns’ magical playoff ride last season, Crowder scored 19 and hit five 3-pointers in closing out the Clippers in Game 6 of the Western finals. During Game 1 of the NBA Finals against Milwaukee, Crowder tallied one point and missed all eight of his shots, but he grabbed nine boards and made life difficult on Bucks gunner Khris Middleton.

The season before, the Memphis Grizzlies traded Crowder to Miami just before the COVID-19 shutdown. When play resumed in the NBA bubble, Crowder was one of the Heat’s top players, especially while Miami tore through the East. He had a streak of seven consecutive games, between the Eastern semifinals and finals, with 10 or more points and at least three 3-pointers.

Crowder learned his NBA trade in three seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, under the tutelage of Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion. Crowder was a gritty defensive anchor for those overachieving Celtics teams under Brad Stevens, and he was devastated when Boston traded him in a package deal to Cleveland for Kyrie Irving. He learned of the trade the same day his mother died. In a way, he said, getting dealt by Boston broke him.

“When I left Boston, I took my heart out of it, because I had no control over that,” Crowder said. “I’ve just tried to build relationships and be a great teammate every stop of the way, ever since.”

Crowder is in the second season of a three-year, $29.2 million contract with the Suns. Saturday marked his fourth Christmas game with four different teams, which is a lot. Forty-six players have done that, with five playing on Christmas with five different teams and Shaquille O’Neal playing with six, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

Crowder knows he is a journeyman and has never changed his outlook since the Boston trade, though as he admits he is getting tired of moving.

“I do want to make a certain spot my home, and this does feel like home – I’m not gonna lie to you,” Crowder said. “From top to bottom, from (general manager) James Jones, to our coaching staff, to my teammates. It does feel like home, it does feel sacred, but at the same time, it’s a business, so I don’t get too caught up into it. I don’t put my heart into it anymore.”

You wouldn’t know it by watching him, or by asking Williams.

“Last year, we were getting to know each other, and I started to see his value,” Williams said. “And then I started seeing even more of it in the playoffs. This year, I’ve relied on Jae a lot to get his opinion on certain things that we were trying to do.”

(Photo: Michael Gonzales / NBAE via Getty Images)

he is getting paid to do what he does and he does it well. As far as certain people following this.....maybe that is your thinking...if you are referring to fans and fanatics, but I will follow what my heart tells me most of the time. Maybe if I got $30 million dollars I would change too. He has that chip on his shoulder which makes him so good in the role he has. They will probably win the title this god forsaken year, good luck to him

As far me, my heart is where it always is

With all due respect, I don't know what you’re referring to. This paragraph has nothing to do with fans and fanatics.
The bold type is an indication of his thought process on making winning plays
Which has nothing to do with heart either

He is indicating that at the 6 minute mark in the 4th it is time to make winning plays and that you have to do it collectively (i.e. no hero ball)
That is something that “certain people” on our team do not know how to do.

ktron

Thanks for posting this.

I really liked Jae Crowder when he was here and I still appreciate what he is doing.   We talked about this before.  Crowder knows how to win and clearly understands the mental toughness that it takes to win games down the stretch.  

Jae brought the same level of tenacity that Marcus Smart continues to bring to this team.  

We could use a guy like Crowder on this team right now.  There is no stat on mental toughness but it is probably the most important characteristic to being a winner in every sport and in life.

Happy New Year my friend!

Kevin Garnett had the mental toughness in spades. His head was always in the game. Always loved his shot from the side of the key. I seriously believe he never missed one of those shots.

db

dboss wrote:ktron

Thanks for posting this.

I really liked Jae Crowder when he was here and I still appreciate what he is doing.   We talked about this before.  Crowder knows how to win and clearly understands the mental toughness that it takes to win games down the stretch.  

Jae brought the same level of tenacity that Marcus Smart continues to bring to this team.  

We could use a guy like Crowder on this team right now.  There is no stat on mental toughness but it is probably the most important characteristic to being a winner in every sport and in life.

Happy New Year my friend!

Happy New Years sir! Enjoyed the conversation. One of us needs to be working in the front office. I know you’d straighten out whatever mess that may be infestering our favorite team.