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MEMPHIS — With a sellout crowd still roaring at Vivint Arena on Friday night, Jae Crowder and Rudy Gobert were pulled off to the side to chat with Utah Jazz sideline television reporter Kristen Kenney.
Before Crowder could even say a word in the postgame interview, Jazz coach Quin Snyder approached him with a passionate hug in celebration of Utah's 123-115 victory against his former Boston Celtics team.
"Something special," Crowder said. "I'll never forget it. Just for him to embrace me at that moment with the win for us. Just to feel that love and emotion from him was a great feeling for myself."
Jae Crowder says the big hug he received from Quin Snyder after the Boston win was "something special." Says his relationship with the Jazz fans also took a turn as they loudly cheered for him during the emotional victory. "I'll never forget it," he said. pic.twitter.com/hTHxU9Pear
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) November 12, 2018
Crowder sank a couple of clutch 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to end with 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting on former Jazzman Gordon Hayward's first time back in Salt Lake City since joining the Celtics.
While Hayward was showered with boos, Crowder was treated the exact opposite.
Ahead of Utah's matchup against Memphis on Monday, that still meant something to Crowder as they were preparing to begin a five-game road trip.
"No doubt," said Crowder, who played in Boston from 2014-17. "Just want to give your best effort for those guys and they support us and we want to go out on a nightly basis and give our best effort so that's definitely something in the back of our heads."
Ironically, the roles were reversed just two seasons ago during a Jazz-Celtics regular season matchup on Jan. 3, 2017 at TD Garden as Celtics fans cheered for Hayward during pregame introductions. As Hayward was preparing to enter free agency that offseason, Crowder felt disrespected by the gesture from his home fans then went out and dropped 21 points with five treys to lead Boston to a 115-104 victory.
Utah Jazz forward Jae Crowder (99) celebrates after scoring on the Boston Celtics at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018.
"My emotions were very high," Crowder recalled. "I remember I was very upset with the response from our fans in Boston at the time and I played like that, and I played upset and I remember I was just fearless that night.
"I remember I had a good night on both ends of the court and I just want to win very badly," he added. "I probably shouldn't have went to the media. I probably should've let myself cool down but I don't regret anything that happened that night. I just took it all in as it came to me."
Crowder has now seemed to find his fit in Utah.
With his father, Corey, appearing in 51 games for the Jazz during the 1991-92 season and the fans embracing him, Crowder says he's happy with his role with the organization.
Snyder describes him as having a "heartbeat you can feel."
"For sure," Crowder said. "I'm very appreciative of the response I got and the support that we as a team continue to get from our hometown fans and it never goes unnoticed. We appreciate it, I appreciate it, and it definitely was a great atmosphere to be a part of."
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