Jae Crowder Told His Mom He’d Been Traded to Cleveland Five Minutes Before She Died

Jae Crowder’s mom died the same night he was traded.

It’s hard to fathom how difficult the night of Aug. 22 was for Jae Crowder. 

That, of course, was the night the Celtics and Cavaliers pulled off a trade to send Kyrie Irving east in exchange for Crowder and Isaiah Thomas. Cleveland.com then reported shortly after the trade that Crowder’s mother had died on the night of the deal, but it turns out it was even more harrowing than that. Crowder told his mother about the move just a few minutes before she died. 

“It was a lot going on that day, obviously,” Crowder said at his introductory press conference on Thursday. “The only good thing about the whole ordeal was I was able to whisper to my mom before she passed. I just told her we’re going to Cleveland. About five minutes later she passed. That day was tough, but it was a good day for myself and my basketball career.”

The Kyrie Trade Was the Only Move Left for the Celtics

You can see in the video here (at around the 13:00 mark) that Crowder got a little bit choked up talking about that moment but it’s incredible that he was able to keep his emotions mostly in check. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for him.