Five minutes in the season opener for the Boston Celtics against the Cleveland Cavaliers, offseason addition All-Star forward Gordon Hayward suffered a broken leg injury during an attempted alley-oop dunk.
It had sent shockwaves throughout the league with many sending their support back to the 27-year-old for a speedy recovery. In light of that, his former Utah Jazz teammate, George Hill, was particularly shaken up from the play, according to Scott Agness of Viligant Sports.
“Yeah, I was actually at home. I still to this day don’t watch basketball on TV so I was actually watching the Hunting Channel at the time. My fiancé (Samantha) ran in yelling about whether I saw what just happened. She showed me. It was emotional for me just because it’s more than just a teammate; he’s like a brother to me. I learned a lot from him in Utah. We learned from each other.
“He’s an Indy guy and you never hope someone goes through that, let alone a guy that you really know from the city that you grew up in and being a teammate. Just trying to be there for him emotionally by calling and texting, making sure he’s fine and him and his wife (Robyn) is doing good.”
In his one season together with Hayward in Utah, he had experienced much success by helping the team win 50 games in the regular season while reaching the second round of the playoffs. During that time, the two developed a strong bond with each which likely made it even harder to see him go down with such a gruesome injury.
Hill wasn't the only one shaken by the play as many other players have reached out to Hayward over the last two couple of weeks. He has a tremendous amount of support from his colleagues, coaches, and fans alike wishing for him to return stronger than before.
Although Hayward's 2017-18 season appears to be over, it will provide him with plenty of time to work his way back.
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