Jae Crowder

In his only season with South Georgia Tech, he led the Jets to their first-ever NJCAA national tournament appearance in his freshman season, under head coach Steven Wright, with the team finishing with a 21–7 record.[2] He was named Georgia Junior College Athletic Association Player of the Year that season.[3]

In his sophomore season with the Howard Hawks in 2010, Crowder was not only named Junior College Player of the Year but also helped the team win its first-ever NJCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. In the final game he registered 27 points and 12 rebounds in an 85–80 overtime victory against Three Rivers Community College. He averaged 18.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.4 steals per game as a sophomore while shooting 46.0 percent from the field and 76.0 percent from the free throw line.[2]

After his season with the Howard Hawks, Crowder transferred to Marquette University, selecting the Golden Eagles over UNLV, Georgia Tech, Texas Tech and Illinois State, among others.[3] He averaged 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in his first season with Marquette.[4] Some basketball statisticians believe Crowder was statistically the best all-around player during the 2010–11 season.[5] On January 1, 2011, Crowder recorded a career-high 29 points and 8 rebounds in a game against the West Virginia Mountaineers.[6] On March 30, 2012, Crowder was named East Perfect Player of the Game in the Reese's College All-Star Game.[7]

For the 2011–2012 season, Crowder averaged 17.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.[2][4] Crowder led Marquette to a second-place finish in the Big East, as well as their second consecutive Sweet 16. During the same season, he was named Big East Player of the Year, as well as an AP Second-Team All American.[2]

• Second-team All-American – AP, TSN (2012)
• Third-team All-American – NABC (2012)
• Big East Player of the Year (2012)
• All-Big East First Team (2012)
• NABC Junior College Player of the Year (2010)
• NJCAA Men's Division I champion (2010)

After finishing his college career, Jae Crowder decided to enter the 2012 NBA draft, where he was projected to be a second round draft pick.[8] Crowder was taken 34th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers; however, a draft night-trade with the Mavericks sent him to Dallas, along with 24th overall pick Jared Cunningham and 33rd overall pick Bernard James, in exchange for 17th overall pick Tyler Zeller and Kelenna Azubuike.[9][10] He was officially signed on July 20, 2012 on a non-guaranteed two-year contract, like all second round draft picks.[11] His Marquette teammate Darius Johnson-Odom was also drafted with the 55th overall pick.[9]

Due to his strong showing in NBA Summer League and preseason games, he was described as "the steal of the NBA draft",[12] averaging 11.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.9 steals, 1.6 assists and 0.8 blocks in 22 minutes per game in the preseason[13] and 16.6 points, 1.6 assists, 5.4 rebounds, 0.8 blocks, 2.0 steals and 41.7 percent shooting in Summer League, where he was also voted into the All-Summer League team.[14] This strong showing raised expectations in the young player, as he was viewed as possibly the Mavericks' new franchise player and possibly a future All-Star.[15][16]

His stellar play earned him a spot in coach Rick Carlisle's rotation.[17] He debuted in the season-opening win against the Los Angeles Lakers. After Dirk Nowitzki missed most of the early season with an arthroscopic knee surgery and starting small forward Shawn Marion was also injured, Crowder became the team's starting small forward. With Marion and Nowitzki's returns, Crowder's minutes decreased. His contribution started to dwindle a bit starting around the all-star break, when he admitted that he hit the "rookie wall".[18] The Mavericks were never able to recover from Nowitzki's injury and missed the playoffs for the first time in 12 years, with Crowder averaging 5 points and 2.4 rebounds per game in 17.3 minutes.

On November 5, 2013, Crowder scored a then career-high 18 points in a 123–104 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.[19] On February 27, 2014, Crowder was assigned to the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.[20] He was recalled by the Mavericks on February 28, reassigned on March 1,[21] and recalled again on March 2.

On June 10, 2014, the Mavericks exercised their team option on Crowder's contract.[22] With the offseason additions of forwards Al-Farouq Aminu and Richard Jefferson, Crowder's minutes subsequently dropped to start the 2014–15 season, falling out of coach Rick Carlisle's frontcourt rotation.[23] On November 9, 2014, he scored a season-high 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting in a 105–96 loss to the Miami Heat.[24]

Crowder with the Celtics in May 2017

On December 18, 2014, Crowder was traded, along with Jameer Nelson, Brandan Wright, a 2015 first-round pick, a 2016 second-round pick and a $12.9 million trade exception, to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Rajon Rondo and Dwight Powell.[25] On January 12, 2015, he scored a then career-high 22 points in a 108–100 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.[26] On April 14, 2015, he hit an off-balance fall-away two-point shot from deep on the right wing with 0.8 seconds left, lifting Boston to a 95–93 win over the Toronto Raptors.[27][28] After averaging just 3.6 points in 10.6 minutes per game with Dallas to start the 2014–15 season, Crowder became an important role player for the Celtics in Brad Stevens' rotation, and subsequently lifted his averages to 9.5 points in 24.2 minutes per game.

On July 27, 2015, Crowder re-signed with the Celtics to a reported five-year, $35 million contract.[29][30] On December 18, 2015, he scored a career-high 24 points in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks.[31] He topped that mark on January 4, 2016, scoring 25 points in a 103–94 win over the Brooklyn Nets.[32] On January 13, he tied his career high of 25 points in a 103–94 win over the Indiana Pacers.[33] On March 14, he was ruled out for two weeks with a right ankle sprain.[34] He returned to action on March 31 against the Portland Trail Blazers after missing eight games.[35]

In the Celtics' season opener on October 26, 2016, Crowder scored 21 points in a 122–117 win over the Brooklyn Nets.[36] He appeared in the team's first four games of the season, but then missed eight straight games with a sprained left ankle.[37] He returned to action on November 19, scoring nine points in a 94–92 win over the Detroit Pistons.[38] On March 17, 2017, he recorded season highs with 24 points and 12 rebounds in a 98–95 win over Brooklyn.[39] On March 26, 2017, he set a new season high with 25 points in a 112–108 win over the Miami Heat.[40] In Game 1 of the Celtics' Eastern Conference semifinal match-up with the Washington Wizards, Crowder scored a playoff career-high 24 points, helping the Celtics win 123–111.[41]

On August 22, 2017, Crowder was traded, along with Isaiah Thomas, Ante Žižić and the Brooklyn Nets' 2018 unprotected first round pick, to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Kyrie Irving.[42] Eight days later, the Celtics agreed to send the Cavaliers a 2020 second-round draft pick via the Miami Heat to complete the trade.[43] On November 20, 2017, Crowder scored a season-high 18 points against the Detroit Pistons.[44]

On February 8, 2018, Crowder was acquired by the Utah Jazz in a three-team trade that also involved the Cavaliers and the Sacramento Kings.[45] In his debut for the Jazz three days later, Crowder scored 15 points in a 115–96 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.[46] On March 9, 2018, he scored a season-high 22 points in a 95–78 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.[47] In Game 5 of the Jazz's first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Crowder scored a career playoff-high 27 points in a 107–99 loss.[48]

On January 1, 2019, Crowder scored a career-high 30 points in a 122–116 loss to the Toronto Raptors.[49]

On July 6, 2019, the Memphis Grizzlies acquired Crowder from the Jazz as part of a package for Mike Conley Jr.[50] On October 27, Crowder hit the game-winning buzzer beating three-pointer to defeat the Brooklyn Nets 134–133 in overtime.[51]

On February 6, 2020, Crowder was traded to the Miami Heat in a 3-team trade.[52] This reunited Crowder with his former college teammate Jimmy Butler. Crowder helped the Heat reach the 2020 NBA Finals, but lost in 6 games to the Los Angeles Lakers.

On November 28, 2020, Crowder signed with the Phoenix Suns.[53]