The Boston Celtics, on Friday, afternoon officially introduced their big splash in free agency in All-Star forward Gordon Hayward.
It turned out to be quite a difficult decision-making process for Hayward, who held meetings with the Celtics, Utah Jazz, and Miami Heat. However, it has become increasingly clear that his decision to sign with Boston was heavily impacted by head coach Brad Stevens, who was his coach at Butler.
In light of that, Hayward brought some insight on Friday about how close his bond has been with Stevens over the years, according to Jay King of MassLive.com.
Gordon Hayward on Brad Stevens: "He came to my wedding. Any time I needed him, he was there for me."
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) July 14, 2017
This strong relationship with Stevens played an influential part in convincing Hayward in joining him with the Celtics. It gave him a sense of comfort and familiarity that no other team could have provided given that their connection dates back to his collegiate days.
Hayward was seeking not only the best place where he can he win, but also somewhere he could have the most comfortability. Boston provides him with both as the team looks to be the biggest threat to dethrone the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference.
The Celtics are getting a player who will provide them with another proven scoring punch that is just 27 years old and is coming off his best individual campaign where he averaged 21.9 points per game. Ultimately, it appears that it was his familiarity with Stevens that sealed the deal for Hayward.
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