The first game of the NBA season is supposed to be a celebration of the return of basketball. That was the case for six minutes, and then all positive thoughts about the season came to a screeching halt when Gordon Hayward went down with one of the most gruesome leg injuries you’ll ever see in basketball.
Hayward’s injury caused players from both teams to be visibly shaken, the crowd went deafeningly silent, and announcers Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller knew something was terribly wrong immediately. Like everyone else watching the game, players from around the NBA reacted in shock to what they saw, and many sent thoughts, prayers, and well wishes to Hayward for a full recovery.
First, players reacted like so many with gut-wrenching and sickened reactions to seeing Hayward’s leg broken that way.
Omg!!!!
— Marcin Gortat🇵🇱 (@MGortat) October 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/FSKPart3/status/920443449438015490
Wow…thats horrific…feel awful for Hayward
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) October 18, 2017
Oh hell no. Dammit….damn, damn, damn…
— 🏁 Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) October 18, 2017
…… oh my
— Myles Turner (@Original_Turner) October 18, 2017
OMG…
— Serge Ibaka (@sergeibaka) October 18, 2017
Metta World Peace had a similar reaction to the injury as many of us, which was to request that the injury not be shown on TV again, because of how gruesome and awful it was.
https://twitter.com/MettaWorldPeace/status/920444380653031424
Steve Kerr was visibly emotional when discussing the injury prior while meeting with the media prior to the Warriors opener against the Rockets.
Kerr on Gordon Hayward’s broken leg tonight. #Warriors pic.twitter.com/dpTfTt8OWN
— Casey Pratt (@CaseyPrattABC7) October 18, 2017
Paul George and Shaun Livingston, who know all too well the terrible pain of suffering a severe leg injury in a game, were among those that sent their best to Hayward.
Naw G! 😰
— Paul George (@Yg_Trece) October 18, 2017
God bless you bro @gordonhayward ! 🙏🏾 help him thru this god!
— Paul George (@Yg_Trece) October 18, 2017
— Paul George (@Yg_Trece) October 18, 2017
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 @gordonhayward. Only God has ALL the answers.
— Shaun Livingston (@ShaunLivingston) October 18, 2017
NFL star J.J. Watt, who recently suffered a season-ending leg injury, also sent a message to Hayward on Twitter.
Can't even put into words.
Gordon Hayward.
Feeling for you man.
Absolutely gut wrenching.— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) October 18, 2017
A tremendous number of NBA players took to Twitter to send support to Hayward.
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏NO No No!!! Give him strength!!! 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) October 18, 2017
Prayers up for @gordonhayward 🙏🏽
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) October 18, 2017
Prayers going out to Gordon Hayward!!!
— Anthony Davis (@AntDavis23) October 18, 2017
Prayers up @gordonhayward !!
— John Wall (@JohnWall) October 18, 2017
Praying for my guy @gordonhayward!!! NEVER want to see any of the guys go through anything like that.
— DeAndre Jordan 🐺 (@DeAndre) October 18, 2017
Prayers for GH
— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) October 18, 2017
Prayers out to @gordonhayward !
— andrew wiggins (@22wiggins) October 18, 2017
Oh no Gordon. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
— Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons) October 18, 2017
Prayers up @gordonhayward🙏🏼
— Book (@DevinBook) October 18, 2017
No way… that ain’t fair…
— Ricky Rubio (@rickyrubio9) October 18, 2017
Damn…
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) October 18, 2017
Praying for you @gordonhayward !!!
— Kyle Lowry (@Klow7) October 18, 2017
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾@gordonhayward
— Rudy Gay (@RudyGay) October 18, 2017
Hate to see this happen to anyone! Prayers to Gordon Hayward 🙏🏾🙏🏾
— Mike Conley (@mconley11) October 18, 2017
— Meyers Leonard (@MeyersLeonard) October 18, 2017
Prayers up for Gordon Hayward !!! 🙏🏽
— Bradley Beal (@RealDealBeal23) October 18, 2017
Man, nothing but prayers to Gordon Hayward!
— DeMar DeRozan (@DeMar_DeRozan) October 18, 2017
PRAYERS UP TO @gordonhayward & HIS FAMILY! OMG NEVER WANT SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO HAPPEN TO ANYONE LET ALONE A NBA BROTHER! 😓
— Kenneth Faried (@KennethFaried35) October 18, 2017
Prayers to my brother @gordonhayward 🙏 pic.twitter.com/WigEE3BFPP
— Enes FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) October 18, 2017
Wow smh prayers up to @gordonhayward may God give you strength during this time.
— Victor Oladipo (@VicOladipo) October 18, 2017
Lord , Carry Him Now 🙏🏾@gordonhayward pic.twitter.com/jEnvghETW1
— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) October 18, 2017
Never want to see that man!#thoughtsandprayers
— Zach LaVine (@ZachLaVine) October 18, 2017
Prayers up for you @gordonhayward
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) October 18, 2017
Prayers up for @gordonhayward man. Hate to see something like that
— Robert Covington (@Holla_At_Rob33) October 18, 2017
Gordon Hayward 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 as competitive as we are against each other, none of us ever want to see anyone go through this #prayersup
— Danny Green (@DGreen_14) October 18, 2017
No no no no no no………. praying everything is okay…
— Jared Sullinger Sr. (@Jared_Sully0) October 18, 2017
Pray for Gordon Hayward damn that looked nasty 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
— C.J. Watson (@Quietstorm_32) October 18, 2017
Prayers up for @gordonhayward and his family. Much Love and support. It’s about more then basketball. #brotherhood
— Brandon Knight (@Goodknight11) October 18, 2017
Heart goes out to @gordonhayward 🙏🏾 Hate to see injuries like that….prayers up for a full recovery
— Harrison Barnes (@hbarnes) October 18, 2017
DAMN 🙌🏾🙏🏾
— Tim Hardaway Jr (@T_HardJR) October 18, 2017
Praying for you Gordon Hayward, you’ll be back stronger than ever ✊🏽 #WeallBrothers
— Nicolas Batum (@nicolas88batum) October 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/Dloading/status/920444740750979077
God bless G, you gunna be alright. Get well. Prayers with you
— Aaron Gordon (@Double0AG) October 18, 2017
Prayers out @gordonhayward 🙏🏼 tough to see you go down! You’ll be back better than ever!
— Andre Drummond (@AndreDrummond) October 18, 2017
