Gordon Hayward joined Noa Dalzell’s You Got Boston podcast on Saturday to discuss the parallels between his career-altering injury in 2017, a fractured tibia and dislocated ankle in his left leg that knocked him out of his entire 2017-18 season, his first with Boston, and Jayson Tatum’s Achilles tear. Hayward pushed to return late in the 2018 season, but ultimately made his comeback the following season, averaging 14.5 points per game and shooting 47.4% from the field across two more seasons with Boston and the remaining four years of his career, mostly spent with the Charlotte Hornets.
“It’s tough. It’s really tough,” Hayward said of missing games. “It was the toughest two years of my career, especially for me, I’m coming off the best year that I’ve ever had in the NBA, I’m and All-Star and first game, you’re hurt. It’s just not the way that you see your career going when you decide to make the jump and go play for the Celtics, then … there was a moment where the team won … where they had won like 13 or 14 straight, or something. It was a ridiculous record that they started off with and you’re like man, I just wish that I could be out there, that should be me out there and so it’s really important to have a support system around you, I was lucky to have family and other people to talk to.”
Tatum tore his Achilles 10 months ago during the NBA postseason, giving him the entire offseason to begin his recovery from surgery and attempt a ramp-up toward a late season return that happened earlier this month. Since, he averaged 19.7 PPG on 39.3% shooting, significant drop-offs from his career 23.5 PPG on 45.9% FG.
Hayward, like Tatum, achieved the highest level of his career at 26-years-old before suffering his injury at 27. Both doubted their basketball futures early in their recoveries and faced difficult re-integrations to teams that thrived in their absence. The Celtics’ young players, including Jaylen Brown and Tatum, led an Eastern Conference Finals run with Hayward and Kyrie Irving injured in 2018.
“J.T. was a rookie,” Hayward said. “When I was a rookie I remember we had veterans go down and you don’t really think about it until it’s you that goes down, and then you realize, ‘oh man, that’s what that guy was going through.’ If you play in this league long enough, you’re usually gonna go through some sort of injury, so you don’t wish that upon anybody, I think it’s the worst part of the game, so it was sad to see J.T. go down, but I’m just happy for him that he’s back out there and the Celtics, it’s a blessing that they’ve been able to keep it going and I think you gotta credit Joe Mazzulla and how he’s got the boys playing and J.B. and Payton Pritchard and Derrick White’s a winner and all the guys that are just playing their roles.”
Hayward returned with 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting on opening night, 2018 alongside Brown, Tatum, Irving and Al Horford, a nearly unmatched starting lineup that many expected would reach the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors with Kevin Durant.
Instead, Boston struggled as Hayward played inconsistently through his return and Brad Stevens struggled to balance roles for the returning veterans and an ascending young team that thrived in 2018. Hayward ultimately only started 18 out of the 72 games he appeared in. Brown moved to the bench for most of the season after November.
“They were ambitious, as we all were,” Hayward said of Brown and Tatum. “That was one of your issues when I came back and Kyrie came back from injury was we have all these guys on paper that have a little bit different agendas. We all had a bunch that we wanted to accomplish and we wanted to prove, so they were growing into the players and the men that they are today, but at 21-22 years old. If I could go back, I would’ve tried to play in my role a little better and do some more small stuff to help us win, but yeah, it’s been cool to see them grow into the players that they are and the leaders that they are. I still look back to those days and had some really good conversations with both of them. I sat next to J.T. on the plane on our road trips, so there were many times where we had great talks … not just about basketball, but life and growing up.”
Irving and Horford departed Boston after losing in five games to the Bucks in the second round of the playoffs. Brown recently reflected on his own struggles following that season, but he and Tatum continued ascending into larger roles alongside incoming veteran Kemba Walker. Hayward regained a form close to his previous level into 2019-20, and the Celtics became a championship contender into the Bubble postseason, but Hayward suffered another significant ankle injury early in the playoffs and struggled to return late in the East Finals, where Boston lost in six games to the Heat. Hayward departed the Celtics for Charlotte following the season.
Those years gave Hayward a front row seat to Brown and Tatum’s ascension, struck by Tatum’s shot-making in their first scrimmages in 2017 and Brown’s physique. He saw their potential, but never imagined the level they reached. Hayward and Tatum grew close during that time while sitting together during plane rides, and the biggest parallel he saw between their injury recoveries so far came on the nights that they returned from their long rehabs.
“The game I came back, it was a home game against Philadelphia, and the fans were just so supportive of me, and probably similar to how Jayson felt when he was announced back in the starting lineup,” he said. “That was a moment I’ll never forget, because at the time, with the way my injury worked and how it all happened, I was thinking I might not run again, I might not be able to run and jump. I don’t even know if I’m gonna be able to play basketball, and then to work your tail off and have the chance to play basketball on an NBA court again, and Boston fans are so passionate, to have the whole city behind me there, that was a very special moment.”
