Getty Milwaukee Bucks forward Jae Crowder lines up a shot during a playoff bout with his old team, the Miami Heat.
The Miami Heat officially punched their ticket to the second round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs on Wednesday night, besting the top-seeded Bucks in Game 5 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, 128-126. In doing so, they also logged a new entry into the league record books, becoming just the sixth-ever eighth seed to top a No. 1.
However, there was a touch of weirdness for both parties amid the Heat’s series win as three members of Miami’s 2020 Finals team — Goran Dragic, Jae Crowder and Meyers Leonard — were sent home as part of the losing side.
All three had signed with the Bucks down the stretch of the regular season in hopes of securing championship rings. In a cruel twist of fate, though, their old team sent them into an early summer break — and put them on the wrong side of history — instead.
While more than a few of Heat Nation’s citizens probably feel bad for their old faves, Crowder is currently getting put on blast by supporters of another one of his former clubs, the Phoenix Suns.
Former Heat F Jae Crowder Gets Lit Up By Suns Fans, Others After Getting Sent Home
Crowder, who spent two years in the Valley of the Sun after his Finals run in South Beach, famously forced his way out of Phoenix this season when he became unhappy with his role.
So, the NBA Twitter denizens were all too happy to dunk on him when that power play ultimately resulted in him logging a Game 4 DNP and, later, playing all of 18 seconds during Game 5 before getting eliminated from postseason play (as the Suns and Heat both punched their Round 2 tickets, no less).
“So let me get this straight,” one tweet read. “Jae Crowder demanded a trade from the Suns only to put up a total of 7 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists on 3-13 shooting (0-6 from three) and lose in 5 games to an 8-seed in the first round?”
“JAE CROWDER CRIED FOR 6 MONTHS STRAIGHT JUST TO RIDE THE BENCH & BE A 1ST ROUND EXIT LMAOOO,” exclaimed a particularly salty Suns fan.
“Jae Crowder could have been the starting PF on the Western Conference favorites and instead he rode the bench for a first-round exit LMAOOO,” read a third volley in the petty wars.
“They told me Jae Crowder was ‘the missing piece,'” another commenter mused.
“Jae Crowder demanded a trade and is on a flight to Cancun rn. The Cavs let Kevin Love walk for nothing and [they’re] half way to Mykonos while he’s on his way to the second round,” read a fifth tweet.
Bad Result Aside, Crowder Showed He Can Still Play
Despite not having a training camp to get acclimated to his new situation — and not having played in an actual game in nearly nine months before making his Bucks debut — Crowder acquitted himself relatively well in his hardwood return.
Over 18 appearances with Milwaukee, the 32-year-old averaged 6.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per game. Meanwhile, he connected on 47.9% of his field-goal attempts and 43.6% of his attempts from three-point range (for a career-best effective field-goal percentage of 60.6).
Before he landed with the Bucks, there was a thought that the Heat could bring him on board to aid in their own title pursuit. And while that didn’t end up happening this time around, Crowder could be a nice, inexpensive frontcourt option for the club this summer.