Message well-received
Heyward buys into C’s vision
SALT LAKE CITY — On the first night of summer league, crowd chants at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Center carried the plaintive tone of “Stayward,” the unofficial theme of Jazz fans ever since it became apparent that Gordon Hayward might leave in free agency.
Now that he’s agreed to join the Celtics on a fouryear, $128 million deal, and with the aid of Twitter, that affectionate saying has morphed into the hashtag “Betrayward,” with the symbolic burning of Hayward jerseys common on social media.
That disappointment didn’t manifest itself last night, though. The Celtics took the floor to a quiet, flat reaction by the sparse early crowd.
Of course it had to hurt. The Jazz had just lost another player, a young star who was being counted on to take the franchise to the next level, and this time to a city that can be more than a little arrogant about its successful sports culture.
Hayward certainly got a sense of the passion when he was wildly cheered by Celtics fans last Jan. 3 during Utah’s annual trip to the Garden, just as the crowd had for Kevin Durant a year earlier. And when he began a recruitment visit last Sunday with his wife Robyn that began in Fenway Park with a video presentation on the videoboard, Hayward was pulled in a little closer. Hayward watched with players Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford, coach Brad Stevens, team president Danny Ainge and Celtics ownership, and retired Red Sox great David Ortiz concluded the video with an ode to the city and its fans.
But what followed was going to count far more.
“The visit to Fenway was great, but the much bigger part was sitting down with Brad and Danny and hearing their vision,” Hayward’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, said. “The Fenway video was great, but this was a basketball decision.”
The group drove past the site of the C’s new state of the art workout facility in Brighton, due to open in the fall of 2018, and went on to the team’s current digs in Waltham, where last year’s rookie, Jaylen Brown, joined the welcoming party. By the time Thomas and Horford sat down with Hayward to make a players-only pitch, Celtics types felt better than ever about their chances.
Thomas and Horford later told Ainge and Stevens that management should feel good about its chances, that Hayward seemed to be responding with enthusiasm to everything they said.
Another point was stressed that Hayward probably didn’t need much reminding of. Name the player — Evan Turner, Brown, Jae Crowder, Jordan Crawford — and he improved under Stevens’ coaching.
“No question there’s still a great relationship there between Gordon and Brad,” Bartelstein said. “Gordon didn’t believe he was an NBA player until Brad told him so.”
In Hayward’s announcement for The Players Tribune on Tuesday, he paid significant homage to his college coach at Butler, as well as the unique sports culture he’s about to join.
“There were so many great things pulling me in that direction,” Hayward wrote. “There was the winning culture of Boston, as a city — from the Sox, to the Pats, to the Bruins. There was the special history of the Celtics, as a franchise — from (Bill) Russell, to (Larry) Bird, to (Paul) Pierce, and it goes on.”
Brown, now heading up the summer league lineup, can only imagine what’s happening back in his inseason home.
“Definitely excitement in Boston — exciting times,” Brown said. “I was there at the facility when he came in. We talked for 10, 15 minutes about the front office and things. They asked me to be there. He was going to make his decision.”
When Hayward came out with his announcement, and made it clear that Boston’s sports culture resonated during his visit, Brown could only agree.
“It’s true. The city and the history,” Brown said. “It’s a big legacy with big shoes to fill. It’s a city that wants to win and doesn’t settle for less. He wanted to be a part of that. It’s great for the Celtics. It means we’re going to be a great team this year, we’re supposed to be on paper at least. Now we have to go out and execute.”