SALT LAKE CITY -- Carlos Boozer knows it's coming and he's fine with it.
The former Jazzman and now current Chicago Bulls forward said he knows he'll get booed tonight at EnergySolutions Arena. But such treatment comes with the territory and he'll be ready for it.
"I'll probably get some boos, probably get some cheers," Boozer said Tuesday after the Bulls practiced at the Zions Bank Basketball Center. "Most arenas we go into we hear boos, so I'm not worried about it."
Boozer signed with the Bulls as a free agent last summer. He joined former Jazz teammates Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer on the team, which comes into tonight's game on a two-game slide.
Boozer spent six seasons with the Jazz, averaging 19 points and more than 10 rebounds per game. However, his time in Utah was hampered by a number of nagging injuries, causing him to miss 138 games.
Brewer said he hopes Boozer gets a warm reception at tonight's game, but didn't seem too sure it will happen.
"Hopefully it's a good one because he did a lot for this organization," he said. "I feel like if he gets booed he's going to feel like they're saying 'Booz' anyway. I think he's going to take it positively and I think he'll have a good showing."
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and point guard Deron Williams on Tuesday said they felt some of the criticism Boozer received from Jazz fans was unfair.
Brewer agreed.
"It's just how he's viewed in other people's eyes," he said. "I think in that locker room people knew what type of guy he was, on the court and off the court."
Besides the missed games, Boozer irked fans when, in 2008, he said he would opt out of his contract because he was "going to get a raise regardless."
He also raised eyebrows when he went on radio shows in Chicago and Miami, speaking openly about the possibility of playing for the Bulls or Heat, all while still under contract with the Jazz.
"Nobody took it personally," Brewer said. "We knew what type of player and what type of guy he was."
Boozer said he doesn't mind having "haters."
"You need them to keep you motivated," he said. "Little do they know, haters motivate. Guys like me take that in stride and use that as fuel."
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