Paul George of the Oklahoma City Thunder had some advice for Gordon Hayward of the Boston Celtics regarding his struggles coming off a gruesome leg injury and as the latter battles through inconsistency this season.

Midway into the season, Hayward is evidently not yet back to his old self before the horrific injury he suffered last year. The 28-year-old admitted that he's having some confidence issues right now. And George, who suffered a similar fate in 2014, offered some advice to Hayward.

“Just honestly, don’t be so hard on yourself,” George said, per Tom Westerholm of MassLive, when asked what he would say to Hayward for advice. “I was fortunate. Again, when I got hurt, the following season I got to play six games and that kind of helped me into the transition.”

He also gave Hayward and his fans a dose of reality. Though they expect him to be the old Gordon of the Utah Jazz, according to George, he's a different player altogether.

“The fact of the matter is, everybody’s expecting Gordon to be Gordon from Utah. But he’s not. He’s gotta take strides, take steps along the way. Fans can’t be too hard on him. He can’t be too hard on himself. The game is different. You get hurt and sit out a year and try to come back, the game is totally different (than) the way you left it.”

The good thing for Hayward and his fans is that the one-time All-Star has shown glimpses of his old self this season. It's good proof that he still has game. It may take some time before he's able to unleash it. But it's definitely inside him.