Will Jae Crowder start training camp with Phoenix Suns? His '99 WON'T BE THERE' deleted tweet brings doubt

Chris Paul usually calls Jae Crowder "9-9" as his Phoenix Suns teammate wears that unique jersey number.

Crowder called himself the same thing quoting a tweet about training camp that suggests he'll be absent from it.

"99 WONT BE THERE!"

The Republic story that was tweeted, which he reacted to, addresses whether Crowder or Cam Johnson will start this season for the Suns.

The Suns begin training camp Tuesday following Monday's media day.

Crowder's tweet has since been deleted, but this isn't the first time Crowder turned heads on social media regarding his future with the Suns.

Earlier this summer, Crowder tweeted "CHANGE IS INEVITABLE.. GROWTH IS OPTIONAL.!! I BELIEVE ITS TIME FOR A CHANGE… I WANNA CONTINUE GROWING.!" 

Then last week, Crowder tweeted "WOW!" in what appears to be a reaction to the findings of the Robert Sarver investigation that concluded the Suns majority owner used the N-word multiple times and made inappropriate comments at female employees during his 18-year tenure.

Receiving a year suspension and fine for $10 million, Sarver has since decided to sell the Suns and WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.

MORE:Robert Sarver announces intent to sell Phoenix Suns in wake of investigation

Those two tweets are still on Crowder's Twitter feed.

Suns General Manager James Jones addressed in an interview with The Republic how much social media impacts his job in relation to Crowder.

"It’s noise," Jones said. "It’s noise. I don’t read into people’s actions. I don’t read to their actions, their words. Like there’s so much noise. So much lack of context that goes with conversations. You get into this rabbit hole of trying to decipher and filter out the noise and figure out what’s real and what’s true and what context and what setting. It’s just a fruitless exercise. To me, it’s all noise. And when you can eliminate the noise, you get back down to what we’re doing. Playing basketball. Competing. Most of that stuff becomes irrelevant. I don’t pay attention to it, to be honest with you.”

When asked if everything is good with Crowder, Jones said, "Yeah. We’re good.”

Less than two weeks later, Crowder apparently has gone on Twitter again to make a comment about his future with the Suns.

Crowder has reportedly been involved in recent trade talks. He's entering the final year of a three-year deal with the Suns.

He's made a difference in his two seasons in Phoenix.

The Suns reached the 2021 finals in Crowder's first year and posted the NBA's best record his second year in Phoenix.

A team leader and veteran, Crowder is a strong defender and solid rebounder at the four, can knock down 3s and makes the right plays.

Crowder threw the inbounds lob pass to Deandre Ayton for the dunk to stun the Clippers in Game 2 of the 2021 Western Conference finals.

Suns coach Monty Williams has shown great trust in Crowder, but Johnson is one of the game's top 3-point shooters and has a more complete offensive skill set.

Johnson is due for a rookie extension that could pay him $15 million a year. Jones said the Suns are in discussions about a deal.

If the Suns make a major financial investment in Johnson, they'll likely start him over Crowder, who started all 80 games he played for Phoenix last season counting the playoffs.

However, Williams plays the guys he trusts down the stretch of close games.

So Crowder would likely finish his share of games for a championship contender.

The question now becomes will he even start camp with Phoenix after a tweet that suggests otherwise has since been deleted?

 Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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