Former Heat Player Jae Crowder In Position For Second Straight NBA Finals Appearance

Veteran forward is in the conference finals for the third time in five years
Former Heat Player Jae Crowder In Position For Second Straight NBA Finals Appearance
Former Heat Player Jae Crowder In Position For Second Straight NBA Finals Appearance /

Former Miami Heat forward Jae Crowder heard from many doubters when he decided to sign with the Phoenix Suns last offseason. 

“And when I made the decision," Crowder said. "you should have saw how many text messages I got, like, ‘What are you doing?’ and ‘Why you going to Phoenix, they haven’t made the playoffs in 10 years?’”

Now, Crowder is feeling pretty good about the decision to join the Suns, who are in the Western Conference finals. The Heat, meanwhile, were eliminated in the first round by the Milwaukee Bucks

“I look like a genius, huh?” Crowder said. “I know I look like a genius a little bit with my decision."

Crowder has given the Suns another veteran voice in the locker room. He is averaging 11.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in the postseason. He said he felt he would be a perfect fit for the Suns.

“I just knew what type of group these guys were,” he said in the wake of Sunday night’s series-clinching victory in Denver. “I felt like they were hungry. They wanted to do some special things and I just wanted to be a part of it.

“And I honestly feel like it’s all coming together for us, for not only myself, but for our team and for our organization, because everybody’s on the same page. We’re all fighting for the same goal. I mean, you’ve got a lot of selfless guys on our team and you see how we play each and every night. We play for one another.”

TWITTER: @ShandelRich

Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

For any Heat or NBA questions, please email shandelrich@gmail.com


Published
Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here