Boston Celtics: Jae Crowder needs to refocus and ignore the noise

CLEVELAND, OH - MAY 21: Jae Crowder
CLEVELAND, OH - MAY 21: Jae Crowder /
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If Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder is going to be a valuable contributor to the team during the 2017-18 season, he will have to ignore the noise on social media.

It’s hard to do in this age of social media, but Jae Crowder needs to weed out all the negative tweets and rumors swirling in the media and refocus his energy and motivation to the basketball court.  If he does that, he will continue to be an important contributor for the Boston Celtics.

Following the signing of All-Star scorer Gordon Hayward this summer, Crowder became one of the main names on the trade block.  While a trade could still occur, perhaps during the season, the versatile forward appears to be in the team’s plans.

That, however, hasn’t stopped fans on Twitter from speculating a trade or a decrease in playing time with the addition of Hayward, Marcus Morris and Jayson Tatum.

Instead of ignoring the tweets, Crowder has responded to his critics on social media.  In my opinion, the reply below is from a basketball player who is emotional on and off the court and needed an outlet to release some of his frustration.

https://twitter.com/CJC9BOSS/status/889949108722708481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.boston.com%2Fsports%2Fboston-celtics%2F2017%2F07%2F26%2Fjae-crowder-is-once-again-responding-to-his-critics-on-twitter

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Jae Crowder’s battle with his critics extend beyond social media.  The 27-year-old forward was very expressive when the TD Garden fans cheered Gordon Hayward during a regular season game in January.

As a competitor, Crowder took to Twitter and went on a rant against fans who cheered an opposing player.  Much of that annoyance was due to the fact that that opposing player plays the same position as him.

He took it personally and he had every right to.  As a player wearing that Boston Celtics jersey, competing game to game, Jae Crowder felt fans should appreciate and support the product already on the court.  The best way to do that, however, was and is to focus on the court by blocking out what is being said on social media and written in printed media.

Going back and forth with critics only gives them more power.  It means a player like Crowder does acknowledge what is being said and it means it is having some effect on him.

Has it made him more motivated?

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Perhaps.  Hopefully motivated enough to help take the Boston Celtics to the next level.  If he finds a way to co-exist on the court with Gordon Hayward, it will only make the team that much tougher to beat.  It will also turn some of those critics into supporters.

Success is the only true way to reply to mean tweets.