Last week, All-Star forward Gordon Hayward made the decision to leave the Utah Jazz for the Boston Celtics via free agency on a four-year, $128 million deal.

Hayward has voiced his appreciation for his seven seasons with the Jazz and even tried to help orchestrate a sign-and-trade to lessen the impact of his departure from the organization. However, his former teammate Trevor Booker believes that he didn't want to take on the responsibility of leading the Jazz, according to Tony Jones andAaaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune.

“Gordon's a guy who doesn't really want to be the man,” Booker said. “I'm not sure he wanted a franchise on his shoulders. Gordon's a great player, and one of the best players in the league. But I wasn't really surprised at his choice. I heard the rumors.”

There is clearly some saltiness from his former teammates leaving them cut and dry after a 51-win campaign that saw them reach the second round of the playoffs for the first time in seven years. This was bound to create some sort of bitterness as it's a huge step back for the franchise losing their best player in the prime of his career.

That said, the addition of Hayward to the Celtics puts them a significant step forward in helping them better compete against the Cleveland Cavaliers next season. He is a proven scorer coming off his best individual season where he averaged 21.9 points per game.

If he's able to help Boston get past Cleveland and compete for an NBA title, all of this criticism would become background noise.