Jae Crowder, one of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ newest players, had a dramatic personal day on Tuesday. The news that he was traded away from the Boston Celtics was overshadowed by devastating personal news about the death of his mother.
Boston teams have exploded numerous stink bombs during key games throughout the years.
This could have been the most offensive of all.
On a postcard-perfect Memorial Day, with the entire region bracing for a 0-3 comeback that would mirror what those Curse-busting Red Sox did 19 years ago, the poser Celtics submitted a woeful Game 7 effort in the Eastern Conference finals and were thrashed 103-84 by the much-mentally-tougher, eighth-seeded Miami Heat on Monday night at the Garden.
On July 1, 2022, I was seated at PJ’s Pub in Cranston, Rhode Island, wondering why there wasn’t a chicken sandwich on the menu.
Why do I tell you this?
Well, while I was there, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that the Boston Celtics had agreed to deal Malcolm Brogdon to the Indiana Pacers. It was such a big event that I recall exactly where I was and what I was doing when it happened.
Brogdon is no longer a Celtic, and his departure was not pleasant.
Long before trading Brogdon for Jrue Holiday, the Celtics had just completed a run to the NBA Finals. Unfortunately, they lost to the Golden State Warriors in devastating fashion. Many attributed the Celtics’ failure on the big stage on a lack of additional playmaking off Boston’s bench.The notion was that by bringing Brogdon in, they had filled the hole while not giving up any significant rotation pieces – with the exception of renowned Celtic Daniel Theis.
The former Rookie of the Year was coming off an injury-plagued season with Indiana, in which he played only 36 games. In those games, he averaged 19.1 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 44.8% from the field.
He had the ideal skill set to replace Boston’s bench playmaking and scoring deficit, and he accomplished so while remaining healthy for the Celtics.
