Jae Crowder has often proved a problem for opposition teams – whether it be through timely threes or hard-nosed, tough defense that’s disrupted offenses. But as another NBA season approaches, the ten-year NBA veteran is causing an off-court problem for his own team, the Phoenix Suns.
While the Suns may appear set on running it back in 2022-23, Crowder seems to have other ideas. Despite being a major piece of the Suns’ success over the last two seasons, the 32-year-old’s social media activity has proven his want to get out of Phoenix.
Jae Crowder let the world know that he doesn’t expect to be at Phoenix Suns training camp, before abruptly deleting his provocative tweet on Friday.
Crowder made the effort to respond to a tweet from Arizona Central’s Duane Rankin, stating he won’t be at Suns training camp when it begins next week. Crowder quickly deleted the tweet but in today’s modern age of social media, the damage had already been done.
This is getting ridiculous 🤦🏻♂️ https://t.co/Ncnwt7Jkxu
— Valley of the Suns (@ValleyoftheSuns) September 24, 2022
Crowder’s urge to leave Suns is a strange one – there are a number of potential factors, but most fans would see them as illegitimate reasons to leave a title contender. Like the majority of his teammates and the entire organization, Crowder faced criticism in the wake of the Suns loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the second-round of the playoffs.
He could also be sick of being involved in trade speculation, though that’s rarely been the case across his 7-team career. Perhaps he’s frustrated by the idea of Cameron Johnson replacing him in the starting lineup, but the reintroduction to a bench role is something he’ll have to become accustomed with regardless of the team he’s on.
The truth will eventually surface in the end, but until then, Phoenix are facing a major issue with someone that’s considered one of their top six most valuable players.
The idea of Crowder as a disruptive, troublesome presence began as an impossible theory, yet with his continual inflammatory comments on social media, it’s a reality that could becoming truer by the day.