Last week, Jae Crowder went on a bit of a media rampage. Among his incendiary comments were ones about the Toronto Raptors. Namely, Crowder, with unabashed confidence, said that his Celtics are not worried about the Raptors.
Toronto forward DeMarre Carroll, however, is having none of that. The second-year Raptor fired back at Crowder by going right for the jugular, via Sportsnet.ca:
“It’s a comment from a person who hasn’t really been in the playoffs that much. That’s how I reacted to that type of comment. When you haven’t been on that level and you don’t understand what it takes to get to that level. Myself going to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals, I understand what it takes,”
“It’s a comment from a guy who hasn’t been on that level, who hasn’t played on that level. It sounds like a young comment.”
“We’ll let Jae Crowder do all the talking,” Carroll said. “We’ll just fly under the radar and do what we’re supposed to do.”
Oh man, the Raptors-Celtics rivalry we’ve all called for for years is finally here. And it’s being started with the Battle of the Braids.
The Celtics are clearly one of the better teams in the East now that they have Al Horford on the roster. But the Raptors are coming off of an Eastern Conference Finals appearance. Despite losing Bismack Biyombo in free agency, they are still a strong team.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are clearly the favorites in the East. But the battle between the Raptors and Celtics, including the off-the-court one including DeMarre Carroll and Jae Crowder, may be the most interesting storyline.
