Media Day: Suns Praise Jae Crowder Amid Pending Departure

Plenty of prominent Phoenix Suns offered words of praise for Jae Crowder despite his inevitable departure from the team.

PHOENIX-- Even the sun sets in paradise, and for the Phoenix Suns, a partial piece to their puzzle is about to leave. 

Jae Crowder and the Suns have had quite the interesting offseason, as Crowder has made it very clear his intentions to move on from the team while Phoenix has reportedly shopped the power forward around in trade talks.

On Sunday, the Suns and Crowder mutually agreed it would be best if he didn't appear at either the team's media day on Monday or training camp, which begins Tuesday.

Crowder, heading into the final year of his deal in Phoenix, has played his final game in a Suns uniform. 

Often times, break-ups in the world of sports can turn ugly. However, the Suns (from top to bottom) gave nothing but praise to Crowder:

Media Day: Suns Praise Jae Crowder Amid Pending Departure

James Jones 

"Those conversations will remain private, But it's an opportunity for us to navigate this and for our guys to step up. We've always said it's about the team. It's never about one person. It's never about one player. It's a collective. So from our staff, our coaches to our fans, community it's a team thing for us and this is just a difficult situation to navigate, but we'll always do it with the upmost respect our players, we'll always do it with the upmost respect for those involved, and we'll move forward and get better."

Monty Williams

"I see it as an opportunity for us. Like James said, Our guys have been in the gym because we've been off for so long. Getting ready, not knowing that this outcome would be upon us. We did have private conversations and those things will remain private. Just because I want our guys to know that anytime something comes up. They know that they can be themselves and they're never gonna hear [inaudible] from me, that's how we always operate with James and myself on day one."

"He brought a number of intangibles to the team. I think all of our guys would speak that way about him. At the same time, these things happen. You have to transition and move forward."

Chris Paul

"Man, when the season ended it was tough on everybody. It was tough on everybody especially losing the way that we did. But I think the summer is a time where guys get a chance to be on their own and be with their families. For me, personally, this was probably the best summer I've had in my career, just getting real time with my family. I was fully engulfed in that this summer. 

"Everybody's feelings and things as such, I'm not sure. But what I know is that everybody has to do what's best for them. And I'm always gonna support any one of my teammates, especially somebody like Jae, who is a huge reason why we were even successful the past few years."

Devin Booker

"I'd say it's a little unfortunate. Jae came in here a couple of years ago and we've done a lot of really good things here. We've shaped and shifted this culture but at the same time I wish him the best moving forward. That's a friend and a brother that I'll have forever. Ultimately it comes down to a business, and the team and him have made a choice and we're gonna move forward and respect both sides."

Cameron Johnson

"That's the thing that you learn most about being in the NBA is that guys will do what's best for them. And to a certain extent, guys should. You're your best advocate. You're your own advocate. If that's a career move that he feels he needs to make, as a teammate you want what's best for your guys. You want what's best for your boys. There's no bad blood between Jae and I. 

"Jae's looked out for me over the past couple years. He's taught me a lot. He's shown me a lot. And he's somebody that I could always call and be like, 'what do you see during this? Talk to me. How do you guard this? What is your advice on this?' So, at the end of the day, I feel it's just business. It's him trying to do what's best for his career."

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