Hayward picks Stevens’ Celts
SALT LAKE CITY — After a day of conflicting reports and much internal angst, Gordon Hayward last night decided to become a Celtic.
The skilled forward made his announcement via a piece in The Players’ Tribune, which has become the standard vehicle for pro athletes changing teams. His comments reflected the difficult decision to leave Utah, his team of the last seven seasons.
In the piece entitled “Thank You Utah,” Hayward first expressed frustration at yesterday’s dilemma, with multiple reports initially reporting he had picked the Celtics. According to Hayward, though, he hadn’t made the difficult choice yet. Two league sources confirmed to the Herald at the time that Hayward hadn’t notified the team of a decision — a point later driven home by agent Mark Bartelstein.
The four-year, $128 million contract reportedly includes a player option in the fourth season, but money was not the driving factor here. Hayward could have made slightly more by remaining in Utah.
Instead, Hayward’s connection with his former Butler University coach — the Celtics’ Brad Stevens — apparently played a major role in the decision.
“It was such a tough decision,” he wrote of the role Stevens played in his decision to leave Butler after his sophomore year. “But there was one person who I knew I could talk to about it from every angle, who I knew would give me the smartest and most honest perspective available: Coach Stevens.
“Coach Stevens was so great about it, all of it. He helped me lay out my options, and talked it through from both sides . . . but in the end, when I needed it, he also gave me my space. And he also let me know that it was my choice to make — and that he would be there for me, on the other side of it, either way. And of course I ended up deciding to leave: I declared for the draft, and got drafted, and started my new NBA life in Utah. But it always meant a lot to me, to know how, in that moment, even with our lives at this strange crossroads together, Coach Stevens was someone I could count on.
“And I guess it’s pretty crazy. Because seven years later, I had to make an even tougher decision — and again, Coach Stevens and I found ourselves at a crossroads together. And again, he was the person I knew I could count on the most.”
Hayward clearly views the C’s — of the three teams he considered, including Miami and Utah — as his best vehicle to winning a title. He referenced barely losing to Duke in the 2010 national title game — Hayward missed a halfcourt heave at the buzzer that caromed off the backboard and the rim — and how he has a chance now to tend to “unfinished business.” Boston’s unfathomable success as a pro sports town also helped sell him on making the change.
The C’s began his visit Sunday with a morning gathering at Fenway Park, where Hayward and his wife, Robyn, were treated to a video presentation on the videoboard that concluded with an ode to the city by David Ortiz.
“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 Russell, to Bird, to Pierce, and it goes on. There was the amazing potential of this current Celtics roster, as a team — from ownership, to the front office, to a talented roster with Isaiah, and Al, and everyone else. And of course, there was Coach Stevens: Not just for the relationship that we’ve built off the court — but also for the one that we started building on the court, all of those years ago, in Indiana.
“And that unfinished business we had together, back in 2010, when I left Butler for the NBA . . . as far as I’m concerned, all of these years later, we still have it:
“And that’s to win a championship.”
Hayward wrote of yesterday’s Twitter-driven frenzy, and how it interfered with his attempt to come to a decision: “What’s crazy is — before I even had a chance to make my decision, before I had a chance to sit down and write this, and before I even had a chance to talk about it with the people I love — I was already reading reports about where I was going. And I guess that’s just the way things work, in 2017. But I’m sorry it had to work out like that.”
He addressed his loyal and undoubtedly hurt Jazz fans, who had adopted a “Stayward” campaign, with the chant breaking out during the C’s summer league game Monday night at the University of Utah.
“I know that will be tough to hear for Jazz fans — and I really want you all to know that you mean the world to me and my family. Over the past few days, I’ve been genuinely torn. And I know that this process isn’t easy on the fans, either. So I just want to be as straight-up as possible about why I’m coming to Boston.”