The folks in Salt Lake City can really carry a grudge.
Boston Celtics Gordon Hayward and Enes Kanter both spent chunks of their career with the Utah Jazz, and that franchises fans made a point of letting the Celtics duo know it seemingly every time they touched the ball Wednesday night.
Hayward, of course, left in free agency in 2017 to join Boston.
That’s an understandable slight, though it seems a little much to still carry a grudge for a guy who then almost immediately paid for his choice to decamp with a season-obliterating injury just moments into his Celtics tenure.
Kanter, however, was traded away from the team by their own front office, so it’s confusing to say the least to witness the animosity to a player that franchise drafted — then decided to move on from.
No love lost though, according to the Turkish big man.
Boos for Gordon Hayward in Utah 🙃 pic.twitter.com/3hsBdKNbHz
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) February 27, 2020
“Let me tell you something, man. Their crowd might be the worst crowd to play in front of, because it’s just like — I know that crowd is just like, it’s terrible,” Kanter said via MassLive’s John Karalis.
“I remember, they used to boo [former Jazz floor general] Deron Williams [who was also traded]. They used to boo me a lot. They used to boo a few other players, and then none of them had a really, really good game. If you got booed, you always have bad game.”
While neither had an especially outstanding game playing against their former team — Hayward had just 12 points and 5 rebounds, while Kanter logged 8 points and 7 boards — they did come away with a win, which teammate Marcus Smart was quick to point out.
“It always feels good to come back to where you started, and here that crowd boo and come out with a win and they can’t say anything,” noted the Texan defensive menace.
It’s certainly possible that Utah fans are simply booing their own front office as they watched the fourth loss in as many games materialize before their eyes, driven in part by players the Jazz’ front office discarded as they built the lately-disappointing roster of today.
But it’s still weird to see them booing Kanter.
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