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Despite the constant rumors surrounding the Boston Celtics organization of a possible Gordon Hayward return, team president Danny Ainge doubled down on his stance of keeping the star forward away from any possible chance to re-injure himself.
Plenty of videos showing Hayward's improvement in his recovery have left Bostonians wondering if he would be fit enough to return at any point this season, or having the likes of ESPN color commentator Jeff Van Gundy wonder if he could pull a Willis Reed and emerge during the playoffs.
Article Continues Below“I don’t believe that Gordon thinks he’s going to play,” said Ainge, according to ESPN's Chris Forsberg. “I think that Gordon just wants to show everyone, when he comes back next year, all the work he put in to get back to who he was when he got here, or even better player than before he got hurt.”
Even if the Celtics could use a boost through the rest of the season, still within striking range of the Toronto Raptors for the No. 1 seed in the East — it's sensible that the Celtics would want to care for their $128 million investment and bring him along with plenty of rest and time to fully recover from his injury.
“It’s a long way to go before [Hayward] can get out on a basketball court,” said Ainge. “Once he is 100 percent cleared, physically, which he’s not close to that yet, there’s a long process of just getting your mind and your confidence.”
Ainge is the second person to double down on Hayward not coming back this season, along with head coach Brad Stevens, who noted the same thing earlier last week.
