When Gordon Hayward went down with his nasty ankle injury on the opening night of NBA season, most believed the injury would be season-ending, but most Boston Celtics fans are still holding out hope for a possibility that the former Butler Bulldog would return and help the team in the playoffs.

But with each passing day it was harder and harder to believe that it would actually happen, and now it seems those chances are down to about zero percent.

According to Chris Mannix of Yahoo! Sports, Brad Stevens confirmed that.

Stevens has been unequivocal when asked about Hayward (“I’ve said all year, not coming back,” Stevens said) and now the calendar is working against him. I saw Hayward before the All-Star break. He’s walking fine, but his ankle was still swollen and still purpleish, which makes it impossible to believe he will be ready to play before mid-April.

Gordon Hayward

Even if he is close to ready come the playoffs, expect the Celtics to still be on the safe side of caution. This might not be the Celtics best chance to win the title with how strong the Western Conference is.

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If they can advance out of the Eastern Conference, even with a healthy Gordon Hayward they would still be heavy underdogs to either the Houston Rockets and the defending NBA champions Golden State Warriors.

After playing his first seven seasons in the NBA in Utah Jazz threads, Hayward decided to leave Salt Lake City in last year's free agency and signed a lucrative four-year, $127.8 million contract with the Celtics. So far in his pro career, the 27-year-old swingman is averaging 15.6 points on 44.4 field goal shooting percentage, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 517 games.

Gordon Hayward, Brad Stevens
John Geliebter/USA TODAY Sports

It makes the most sense for the Celtics to make sure he is fully healthy for next season and with a few off-season additions maybe they can get closer to another NBA title.