Gordon a calming force
Patient offers words of wisdom
The man whose future with the Celtics is in limbo was supposed to say something about a man whose future with the Celtics is on hold.
Instead, Marcus Smart did what the television people refer to as a “toss.”
He did a toss to Gordon Hayward.
And it was Hayward, speaking from his bed at New England Baptist Hospital, who delivered a few words that absolutely electrified the Garden masses and also might have calmed everyone down a little.
“What’s up everybody? Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who’s had me in their thoughts and prayers,” he said. “I’m gonna be alright. Hurting me that I can’t be there for the home opener. I want nothing more than to be with my teammates and walk out on that floor tonight. But I’ll be supporting you guys from here and wishing you the best of luck. Kill it tonight. Thanks, guys.”
The message, 30 seconds in duration, had been recorded earlier in the afternoon, before Hayward was to undergo surgery to repair his left leg, which was obliterated when he took that horrible fall to the floor Tuesday night in Cleveland.
Now we can debate the whys and wherefores of how the injury happened, such as whether former Celts forward Jae Crowder, now playing for the Cavs, played a role, innocent or otherwise. And the people who write about basketball for a living can and should explore how Hayward’s injury affects the Celtics’ prospects for the season.
But let’s stop for a moment and remember it was Hayward who was calming everyone down. Not to make wise cracks here, but it’s the doctors and nurses who are supposed to have a good bedside manner, not the person who’s in the bed.
For a guy who has played just five minutes and change for the Celtics, Hayward received a lot of love yesterday. Part of that is because he is an exciting young player whose presence on the parquet was, everyone hoped, going to usher in a new era for the Celtics. But mostly it was because of the grotesque nature of the injury, which shocked those who were watching, and, thanks to television and social media, has been shocking people ever since.
Athletes in all sports make so much money these days that some of them no longer seem to mesh with the community the way they did back in the not-sodistant past. At best, they seem aloof and hard to get close to; at worst, they act like boorish louts.
But every once in a while, a simple gesture resonates. That’s what happened when David Ortiz delivered his famous remarks — “This our (expletive) city” — in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. It’s what happened when Tom Brady, who was living in the Back Bay at that time, was a somber presence at the fire that claimed the lives of Boston firefighters Lieutenant Edward J. Walsh Jr. and Michael R. Kennedy three years ago.
What Hayward did last night wasn’t as dramatic as Big Papi’s Fenway Park address, and it didn’t strike a note of neighborhood activism, as Brady did on that chilly March morning.
But no matter what all the doctors say, Hayward has to be wondering about his future as a professional basketball player. Hey, maybe he’s back on the court at the end of this season. Maybe this is a seeyou-next-year thing. Maybe this turns out to be a Tony Conigliaro-type injury in that he returns, maybe has some success in the early going then discovers things aren’t quite right and never will be quite right again.
All kinds of thoughts had to be banging around inside Gordon Hayward’s head yesterday.
But he knows everybody — and really, I mean everybody — is talking about him. And everybody is worried, for the simple reason Hayward became something more than a rich basketball player the moment he hit the floor and his ankle did something ankles aren’t supposed to do.
He became a very real person with very real problems.
Hence, everyone is worried, worried in a way that transcends sports.
Marcus Smart, the man who did the toss to the video, was the pregame speaker because he is the senior member of the Celtics in terms of continuous service. As to how continuous that’s going to be, who knows? He failed to receive a contract extension by Monday’s deadline.
But the night belonged to the man whose career with the Celtics is on hold.
And so after the players were introduced, after the Celtics dancers made their presence known, after Lucky charged onto the parquet waving a banner, after the popular Fran Rogers crooned the national anthem, Smart spoke.
“I want to thank you guys for coming to opening night,” he said. “I had a couple of things I was going to say tonight, but I know someone who really wants to let you guys know something . . . and you guys would love to hear from him.”
Toss to Gordon Hayward, who indeed had something to say: Everything is gonna be all right.
We don’t really know that yet. What we do know is Hayward has the right attitude about all this, and that’s half the battle.