Jae Crowder expressed his displeasure with Celtics fans for cheering for Jazz forward Gordon Hayward. Prompted by one fan to love or leave Boston, Crowder said he’d have no problem leaving.
Cooled down, Crowder is taking a different tone.
Crowder, via A. Sherrod Blakely of CSN New England:
“Obviously, I don’t want to leave Boston,” Crowder said. “I love it here. The fans have treated me great, no doubt about that. I still stand behind what I said about how I felt disrespected cheering for Gordon Hayward. I’ll live with that. I stand behind that 100 percent as a man.”
“I was a little angry after the game, obviously,” Crowder told reporters prior to Thursday’s practice. “I said what I had to say. I probably should have left it right there (in the locker room after the game); went on Twitter and said what I had to say and that’s one thing I regret, going back and forth with fans at the time. But it was how I was feeling at the time.”
Celtics president Danny Ainge has laughed off the tweet storm. Boston coach Brad Stevens says he just wants to move on.
It doesn’t seem the organization wants to hold it against Crowder.
And why would it?
Crowder already showed his devotion to the Celtics by locking into a cheap long-term contract. With that deal, the team will give him plenty of leeway and keep reaping the value.
Maybe fans should appreciate that a little more.