{"id":48130,"date":"2017-10-18T07:23:21","date_gmt":"2017-10-18T07:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=48130"},"modified":"2017-10-18T07:23:21","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T07:23:21","slug":"gordon-hayward-boston-celtics-get-nightmarish-start-to-nba-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/nba\/gordon-hayward-boston-celtics-get-nightmarish-start-to-nba-season.html","title":{"rendered":"Gordon Hayward, Boston Celtics get nightmarish start to NBA season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gordon Hayward, Boston Celtics get nightmarish start to NBA season<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Who wanted to play basketball after that?<\/span><\/p>\n

Who wanted to watch basketball after that?<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2017-18 NBA season couldn\u2019t have started worse than it did \u2014 with Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward going down with a dislocated left ankle and fractured tibia five minutes and 15 seconds into the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was an injury so gruesome that players turned away immediately and called for medical attention for Hayward, who went up for an alley-oop and landed the wrong way.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was the kind of injury that fills an arena with solemn silence.<\/span><\/p>\n

The kind that renders basketball meaningless. The winner, the loser, it doesn\u2019t matter. Kyrie Irving\u2019s return to Cleveland as a Boston Celtic was insignificant. LeBron James\u2019 29-point, 16-rebound, nine-assist performance unimportant.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough,\u201d Irving said of going back on the court following Hayward\u2019s injury. \u201cI\u2019ve seen a few injuries in my career. I\u2019ve had a few. Probably two of the worst ones I\u2019ve been in the game watching. One was with USA (Paul George\u2019s 2014 compound fracture in his right leg during a scrimmage) and this one tonight. It\u2019s not a great sight to see, but you\u2019ve got to pick yourself up and keep fighting. We understand G \u2014 God-willing \u2014 will be fine, and we\u2019ll continue to pray for him, be there for him as best we can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Celtics signed Hayward to a four-year, $128 million contract during free agency in the summer, and made him the centerpiece along with Irving in their attempt to win the Eastern Conference championship.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a devastating injury for Boston, and those championship aspirations.<\/span><\/p>\n

But forget what it means to the Celtics from that standpoint. Think about what it means to Hayward, who reunited with Celtics coach Brad Stevens, Hayward\u2019s college coach at Butler.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hayward\u2019s dreams and goals for this season were crushed five minutes into the season. He was an All-Star for the first time last season and had the best year of his career in 2016-17. He moved his family to try and accomplish something special with Irving.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou hurt for him,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cHe\u2019s put in a lot of great work, and I thought he had his most comfortable week as far as feeling like he was going to play really well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Support for Hayward filled Twitter timelines, including words of encouragement from George who recovered from his compound and returned to All-Star level. Cleveland\u2019s Isaiah Thomas, who recruited Hayward to Boston before the Celtics traded Thomas to Cleveland for Irving, went into the locker room to see Hayward after the injury.<\/span><\/p>\n

In those moments, every NBA player is a teammate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still a fraternity, and we\u2019re still brothers,\u201d Cavs coach and former NBA guard Ty Lue said.<\/span><\/p>\n

James said he has witnessed awful injuries, citing George\u2019s compound fracture, Shaun Livingston\u2019s injury that almost ended his career and Louisville\u2019s Kevin Ware\u2019s injury.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy thoughts and prayers go out to Gordon and his family,\u201d said James, who shook Hayward\u2019s hand as the Celtics forward was carted off the court on a stretcher. \u201cThose are the injuries that you never see coming, and you never want to happen, no matter who it is, no matter what the stature, no matter how much competitive nature you have. It\u2019s just very unfortunate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Who wanted to play basketball after that?<\/span><\/p>\n

“At the end of the day, there\u2019s still a game to be played as (expletive) as that sounds,” Irving said. “We\u2019re professionals so when one of our brothers go down, we just pick the rest of our guys up and understand we send our well-wishes to him and his family and we\u2019ll see him on the plane. We\u2019ll do what\u2019s needed for him to start the process of getting back out there.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The second game of the night \u2014 Houston at Golden State \u2014 tipped off after the Warriors received their championship rings.<\/span><\/p>\n

The games, they go on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Except for Hayward\u2019s games this season. It will be the longest and most difficult year of his professional career when it was supposed to be one of his best and most joyous.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nba\/columnist\/jeff-zillgitt\/2017\/10\/17\/gordon-hayward-boston-celtics-nightmarish-start\/774819001\/<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t <\/div><\/div>\n\t\t