The Entire NBA Rallied Around Gordon Hayward After His Devastating Leg Injury Opening Night


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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.

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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.

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Steve Kerr was visibly emotional when discussing the injury prior while meeting with the media prior to the Warriors opener against the Rockets.

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.

NFL star J.J. Watt, who recently suffered a season-ending leg injury, also sent a message to Hayward on Twitter.

A tremendous number of NBA players took to Twitter to send support to Hayward.

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