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Gordon Hayward's injury looked grotesque on TV. Given the looks of it, nobody expected him to be back by this season. But suddenly, clips of Hayward shooting from his wheelchair and, most recently, shooting standstill before games and in practices with the rest of the Boston Celtics' roster started floating through the internet. This has raised some hope amongst the Celtics fan base that their latest free agent acquisition comes back this season. But teammates Kyrie Irving and Al Horford do not think Hayward deserves to be rushed back into the lineup.
Marc J. Spears from The Undefeated quoted both Irving and Horford commenting on Hayward's possible return this season. Irving, the team's leading scorer, said:
“I just want Gordon to do what’s best for Gordon. That’s it. That’s all.”
The Celtics are playing well enough without Hayward. It is not that his teammates do not want him back. But instead, they want him to recover completely before coming back. Horford said about Hayward:
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“If he is back this season, we will welcome him with open arms. If it’s next season, we will wait.”
It appears as if the organization is leaning much more towards taking it easy with him. Celtics head coach Brad Stevens praised Hayward's efforts and revealed when the team expected to have him back:
“He makes a lot of shots standing still. A lot. He’s a heck of a standstill shooter now. And he’s really good in a chair, too. But nothing new. We don’t anticipate him being back this season.”
Whenever Hayward is available to come back, it will be very exciting to see what the whole Celtics squad can do. Boston's offense has not been nearly as good as their defense, and Hayward will for sure provide a boost in the offensive end.
