The Celtics wrestled a hard-fought victory away from the Jazz on Tuesday, thanks largely in part to the contributions of small forward Jae Crowder. Crowder’s 21 points tied his season high, but the takeaway from the evening would prove to be neither his production nor the result on the scoreboard but rather his unexpected comments about the fans in attendance.
Supporters at the TD Garden could be heard cheering for rival forward Gordon Hayward, writes Christopher L. Gasper for The Boston Globe and it’s this to which Crowder took offense.
“[It’s] a sign of disrespect to me from the fans,” Crowder told the media, before doubling down on his unconventional reaction over Twitter.
The C’s have long been rumored to be interested in Hayward (here in 2014, for example, and here in October), but it’s the Butler alum’s connection to head coach Brad Stevens that gives the notion continued validity. As the 26-year-old wing approaches free agency via his player option for 2017/18, speculation about Hayward joining the Celtics and theoretically supplanting Crowder in the starting lineup has gained traction.
Given the circumstances, is Crowder’s reaction warranted? Is it bad form for fans to cheer for opposing team players? You tells us in the comments below.
Fans cheer for opposing players all the time. Kobe Bryant got cheered lots especially once the Lakers became terrible. Former Celtics get ovations even when they are on the opposing team. Heck, Yankees fans gave David Ortiz a standing O. This stuff happens all over all the major sports.
Crowder needs to get a grip. They’re Celtics fans but they’re also basketball fans and sports fans. Let them cheer for anything they like.
There’s a difference between showing respect and trying to entice someone to play for your team, I have no problem with it but it makes total sense why Crowder does I wouldn’t want to see the people that are supposed to have my back rooting for the guy I’m playing and could take my job
Did you really just compare Gordon Hayward to one of the best ever in Kobe and a Red Sox legend in big Papi? So disrespectful
Perfectly said
If I’m a Celtics fan I def cheer for Hayward. They really need his offense to have any shot at getting to eastern conference finals to play the cavs.
I don’t disagree with him. He obviously should have kept that to himself. If anything it shows he cares. I’ll warrant it
As a Celtics fan i am embarrassed. You don’t kiss ass to rival tram players especially when Crowder has been so productive for us.
Were you embarrassed last year when they were cheering for KD who plays Crowder’s positions?
I’m a huge C’s fan and I have 2 thoughts…Hayward is a good offensive player…but he’s not a “max” guy, at least for the C’s. You sign someone like Hayward, who’s not a whole lot of an upgrade over Crowder (factoring in D, intangibles and Crowder being a 4th option on offense/less shots), now you have 2 Max players…and then you have to resign Thomas and/or Bradley/Smart, etc. over the next couple of seasons with limited cap room. I don’t think anyone in basketball sees a 30+ something Horford, Hayward and Isaiah as serious contenders in the next couple of years…
Anyway, with that said, I’m calling out Jae for his hypocrisy on this one. It’s his right to get pissy about fan’s cheering for another potential free agent who plays his position…but where was his outrage last season when they were cheering for another well regarded player who plays his position? Not only that, but Crowder himself was part of the recruiting contingency from the C’s that met with KD last summer…and then got pissy with KD for choosing the Warriors.
So it’s cool for him to openly recruit a guy who plays his positions…and the fan’s to cheer that guy last season… But not ok this year, for another guy…who plays his positions? BS.
2 time scoring champ and former MVP Kevin Durant >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Gordon Hayward
That’s definitely true… But you can’t actively recruit one and then get butt hurt when fans cheer the other, without coming off as a hypocrite.
Should’ve cheered for KD last year…
They did cheer for KD last year… They went nuts.
Noel and Covington for Crowder…..let’s do it
Celtics probably need to throw in a pick for that trade to work. If so it’s not bad
Maybe,maybe not.when I was writing it,I was thinking about writing a pick in,but not going to the 6ers.not a 1st,but a 2nd.and I’m a 6er fan.Crowder has a very team friendly contract,and Noel would need to be resigned.Covington has a option for just over a million though.I’ve also had it in for Noel since he complained in training camp.I think I’m in the minority here in Philly though.at the arena Noel gets cheered and Okafor gets booed.I wanna see them both get dealt though.
Thats a bad deal for the Celtics. Crowder is signed to a team friendly deal and trading for Noel (and resigning him) would take up the cap space they could use to sign another scorer or to save for Thomas/Bradley/Smart. Philly would definitely have to throw a pick in. I’m a fan of Covington, but his ceiling is as a rotational wing (starter or key bench player depending on what the team needs).
Why is Boston the only city that cheers for Gordon Hayward? Hmmm…
—> link to sportsgrid.com
Anyone who regularly watches the Cs loves what JC brings to this team. When he’s healthy
Not a Celtics fan, but I agree with Crowder here. As someone pointed out above, I do kind of agree with his hypocrisy for recruiting for KD, but it’s still wrong for the fans to cheer for a guy on another team who would definitely end up replacing a current player on the team who resigned there to try and stay there for the long haul. What I thought was wrong was the reports that some people on Twitter were saying he should just go back to Dallas. The guy has turned out to be a revelation for the Celtics and has seemingly worked his butt off for the team and fans just seem to be willing to disregard that for Hayward.