Jae Crowder and the Boston Celtics were disappointed in Kevin Durant‘s decision to join the Golden State Warriors.
The Celtics decided to literally go deep into their playbooks, hoping that revealing their winning strategies against the league's best two teams would help convince Durant that they had the formula for winning titles that he was looking for.
The Celtics literally gave Durant their strategy for stopping MVP Stephen Curry, because they were the only team in the NBA this season to beat the Warriors twice. Crowder told reporters:
“We were the only team in the NBA to beat (Cleveland and Golden State) on their home court – the only team in the NBA, the Boston Celtics. We told him that. We played him clips from both games and told him basically the scouting report of how we guarded Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson)– our entire game plan, basically. That's what made me mad. We f—ing told him everything we do to beat these guys, and we beat them, and he went and joined them.”
Crowder admitted that the Celtics divulged too much information, but they never expected Durant to sign with the Warriors, even if he didn't end up in Boston:
“I felt like afterward, I was talking to Isaiah (Thomas), like maybe after you sit back, you shouldn't have told him everything. But who the f— thought he was going to Golden State, realistically? It was like a slap in the face for us, basically. That team is for sure the villain of the league. Every other NBA guy, friends of mine, are really disgusted from how the league is turning on that standpoint. Everybody is joining together, everybody wants to go to Golden State or Cleveland.”
The Celtics did well in free agency despite not landing Durant, and Crowder feels great about it. Center Al Horford happily joined the Celtics and seemed quite excited for the future in Boston.
“He helps out tremendously. My guys were telling me something about [one media projection] predicted us to win 59 games. He's going to help us out a lot. And last year we won 48 games without a guy of his nature. I just think that right there, what people see, speaks volumes. He can help us out a lot.”
Once the news broke that Durant wouldn't be buying a home in New England, Crowder eagerly checked to see what was next.
“I just texted (Danny Ainge), trying to see where everything is going. After Durant's decision, I just asked like, ‘Well, what's the direction now?' And he said, ‘We're still trying to make moves.' So that means we're still active. And we still have a lot of assets, we still have a lot of young players. So we gotta figure it out. We can be as aggressive as we want to. But I do feel like we're one or two pieces away still.”
Anger and disappointment aside, Crowder still recognizes that Durant is one of the league's toughest players to defend. Just don't expect him to take it easy on KD whenever they meet.
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