Limping to healthy days
Hayward will stay involved
There was Gordon Hayward, in a chair, shooting up at a 10-foot basket as Celtics assistant Scott Morrison rebounded for him.
A weird experience for an NBA All-Star, for sure, but then it’s amazing what can feel wonderful after two weeks in a post-surgical bed.
“Just to be out on the court with a basketball, that was an incredible feeling, just to start that process,” Hayward said yesterday in his first meeting with the media since suffering a horrific leg injury on Oct. 17 in Cleveland.
“Just because for two weeks or whatever I was in a bed with my foot up the whole time,” he said. “Those hours seem like they last forever, because you’re just sitting there and bored and can’t do much. I do whatever I can with the basketball. That’s what I love to do. That was fun. Looking forward to any chance to do that.”
Hayward’s reemergence was hectic, beginning with an interview with “Today Show” host Matt Lauer that was taped a day earlier. On Wednesday, Hayward also posted a blog on his Facebook page entitled “In an Instant,” detailing the gruesome experience, and thanking everyone from Celtics fans to Kobe Bryant and Utah fans for their rush of support for their former star forward.
But Hayward’s first steps back to basketball are going to be quiet and solitary, like shooting from a chair. Celtics coach Brad Stevens is attempting to mix in Hayward with his teammates as much as possible, and the Celtics forward did some of his first re-connecting on Wednesday.
He admits the mental challenge may be as significant as the physical.
“Daily, I still have negative thoughts. It’s hard not to, especially when you watch the games,” he said. “It’s something that I’m trying to work on, like, I think I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t have those thoughts. I think there are just definite positive things that I can take from this and there’s definitely no reason to continue to sulk and wallow in some self pity because it happened. You can’t take it back, as much as I want to rewind it and go out the other way on the pin-down. It’s something that I’m going to have to deal with so might as well deal with it now.”
That’s why Stevens is keen on integrating Hayward as much as possible, for example, as a counselor/assistant coach with the young guys.
“More and more through the rehab process I’ll be with the guys. I haven’t had a chance too much recently,” he said. “Yesterday was one of the first times that I saw them, and got a chance to be around them for a little bit. It’s going to be really important for my mental health to stay involved, still be a part of the team. As much as I can’t be out there on the court with them, I can be in the locker room, I can see different things on film that maybe they can’t see on the court, and I can help them. That would help me as well.”
The Celtics’ response to losing Hayward has certainly been remarkable, with Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Marcus Smart and the youth movement carrying a six-game winning streak into Oklahoma City tonight.
“They’re playing well right now and they’re asked to do a lot,” he said. “They have a lot of responsibilities. I think this is going to be great for their careers, there’s nothing better in the NBA than experience and meaningful experiences, which I think is something that (is) this team. We’re young but, at the same time, we’re ready to win. They’re going to be in some situations (tonight). They’ll be in situations that are going to help them in the future and help us, ultimately.”
Though Hayward admitted he’d like to make an appearance on the bench at some point this season, any time line is headed for a trash can.
“I’m putting zero expectations on myself, as far as a timetable,” he said. “For me, I want to get better today. Right after this, I’m going to do some rehab and do some chair shooting and that’s what I’m focused on.”
Oklahoma City’s Paul George, who broke his leg during a 2014 USA Basketball scrimmage in Las Vegas, has been of supreme value to Hayward over the last two weeks.
“Paul George was a guy who texted me right when it happened. Paul and I have had a good relationship since we were drafted in the same class,” said Hayward. “And I was there in the gym when he did his leg and I know that he knows firsthand exactly what it’s going to be like, exactly what it’s going to take to be back to 100 percent. So we’ve talked backand-forth and I’m sure he’s somebody I can lean on, because the mental side, he says, is the toughest part. You can’t get out there and play, it doesn’t go as fast as you want it to go. That’s something that is going to be a challenge.
“I think it’s extremely helpful, especially when you go through something, to talk to somebody else who’s been through the same thing, and also somebody else who has come out of it successful,” he said. “Paul is still having a tremendous career and came back better than ever. To have somebody who is willing to talk to you about it and willing to take his time to help me out is big for me.”