Getty Jae Crowder, formerly of the Boston Celtics reacts after a foul is called.
Seeing players have a sense of humor about themselves will always be amusing much as it will always be heartwarming too. Former Boston Celtics starter Jae Crowder, who has been quite the journeyman since Boston traded him in 2017, embraced his villain role when his current team, the Phoenix Suns, took on the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round.
After the Suns defeated the Pelicans 4-2 in their first-round matchup, Crowder showed up at the post-game press conference in a shirt that said the words, “F*** Jae Crowder” verbatim.
Jae Crowder: “What’s so funny?”
It’s most likely that Crowder is wearing this shirt because it’s a reference to a chant that Pelicans fans yelled at specifically him when the Suns and the Pelicans squared off in New Orleans. Judging by the caption in the above tweet, it seems pretty clear that members of the media at the press conference found Crowder’s shirt to be pretty humorous.
Judging by Crowder’s grin in that picture, so did he.
Teammate Devin Booker Joined in on the Fun
At that same press conference, Booker wore the exact same shirt and even went out of his way to show it off to members of the media.
D Book and Jae Crowder rocking a “Fu*k Jae Crowder shirt.” 💀
(via @Suns)
Out of context, some may interpret this as Booker expressing contempt for Crowder, but anyone who knows how teammates interact with one another would correctly deduct that Booker is simply adding to the joke.
Throughout his career, Crowder has never been one to be at odds with his teammates. Pending any new developments, that’s more likely than not to never change. In fact, times like these actually make it more heartwarming because it gives off a sense of togetherness on Phoenix’s end, even if it involves profane language.
If the Suns go on to win the title this season, this shirt may very well become a hot item on the market.
Former Celtics General Manager Did Something Similar Years Ago
Since Jae Crowder spent two and a half years with the Celtics, it wouldn’t be too crazy to suggest that perhaps his latest fashion choices in shirts may have been inspired by his former General Manager doing the same thing when he was a player.
The General Manager, in this case, was Danny Ainge. Back in his playing days, Ainge was a productive guard for multiple Celtics teams that won the championship in 1984 and 1986. As talented as Ainge was, he was arguably best known for being an instigator when he took the court. Ainge got into plenty of fights when he was a player. So much so that, according to Ainge himself, after former Celtics guard Don Nelson called him the dirtiest player in the NBA, fans of the Detroit Pistons started wearing shirts that said, “I Hate Danny Ainge.”
Ainge actually took such a liking to Detroit’s latest fashion trend that he not only bought one of those shirts but wore it to practice too. This shirt has actually become somewhat iconic in Boston since then. So much so that you can currently purchase one online.
The difference between Ainge and Crowder in this case is that the internet didn’t exist during Ainge’s playing days. If opposing fanbases continue to make the exact same chants at Crowder that Pelicans fans did, there’s no telling how popular the “F*** Jae Crowder” shirts may become on the market in the digital age.
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