Gordon Hayward finally broke his silence about the real reason he opted out of his contract with the Boston Celtics and accepted an offer from the Charlotte Hornets this past offseason.

Ahead of his Hornets debut against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, the 30-year-old swingman said he wanted a clean slate, per Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. 

“I wanted a fresh start. I wanted a place where I could try to maximize who I was as a basketball player,” the new Hornets forward said. “Boston has a lot of great players, especially on the wing position: Guys who can do a lot of different things, like myself.

“I just wanted to kind of maximize what I was.”

Before joining the Celtics back in 2017, Gordon Hayward was used to being the main man with the Utah Jazz. The 6-foot-7 swingman eventually figured in an injury-riddled three-year stay in Beantown. Hayward eventually took a backseat with the emergence of Celtics young stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The arrival of Kemba Walker last season even relegated him as the team's fourth option.

Hayward averaged solid numbers of 17.5 points on 50.0 percent shooting from the field and 38.3 percent from three, along with 6.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 52 games last year.

While it's baffling for some why Hayward would prefer a rebuilding situation in Charlotte over a guaranteed contender in Boston, there's really nothing wrong with wanting to become your own man again. Then again, most pundits believe the one-time All-Star's biggest motivation was the massive four-year, $120 million contract the Hornets gave him. Hayward opted out of the remaining $34.2 million on his deal with Boston.

Given his extensive injury history in the last few seasons, perhaps he wanted to get financial security in the coming years. Hayward will indeed be the top guy in Charlotte, alongside the ornets' promising rookie LaMelo Ball.