Rewinding time only a few months ago and Paul George and Gordon Hayward were two of the top small forward targets in free agency, both linked to Boston, Miami, and other franchises.
Fast forward to Tuesday's season-opener and Hayward's crushing injury can potentially change the course of the Eastern Conference race this season.
Hayward suffered a dislocated left ankle as well as a tibial fracture in the first minutes of the Celtics game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, an injury that many deemed similar in freak nature to George's fracture in 2014 during an open White vs. Blue scrimmage with Team USA.
George, who took to Twitter yesterday to wish his fellow NBA star a speedy recovery, and talked about his interaction with Hayward after last night's events.
“It just brought me back to Vegas and what happened to me with my incident,” said George. “Immediately I felt devastated and I was like nauseous watching it because it's going back to that place.”
“Immediately after it happened, I texted Gordon, we talked last night. I tried to give him words of encouragement and just try to be there for him.”
Paul George on Gordon Hayward’s injury, and his own experience coming back from one: pic.twitter.com/2KlDNzN3x3
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) October 18, 2017
George fractured his tibia during the 2014 offseason, which kept him out for nearly the entire 2014-15 season, playing only the last remaining games of the year.
While their injuries are very different, they are both classified as freak injuries of the sport, which will happen from time to time.
Hayward had an outpour of support, not only from his fellow NBA players, but from athletes and fans of all sports who hope for his speedy recovery.
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