Gordon Hayward’s brutal leg injury he suffered in Tuesday night’s opening game against the Cleveland Cavaliers shook the NBA world to its core. Despite how gruesome Hayward’s injury looked at the time, it could have been so much worse. The official diagnosis is a dislocated and fractured left tibia, and while we shouldn’t downplay the severity of the injuries Hayward did sustain, this could have been career-threatening. It was that bad.
Brad Stevens updated everyone on Hayward’s status prior to Wednesday night’s home opener against the Milwaukee Bucks. Stevens confirmed the dislocated and fractured left tibia diagnosis and commended the Cavaliers for their help in the moments following Hayward’s injury.
To the surprise of everyone at TD Garden before tip-off on Wednesday night, the Celtics played a message from Hayward at the hospital on the jumbo-tron. This was the first time anyone had seen Hayward since the injury on Tuesday night. To say it was a cool moment would be an understatement.
Here’s the footage the Boston Celtics played on the jumbo-tron:
Gordon Hayward has a message for Celtics Nation. https://t.co/H6RHeGgios
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 18, 2017
What’s up everybody, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has had me in their thoughts and prayers. I’m going to be alright. It’s hurting me that I can’t be there for the home opener. I want nothing more than to be with my teammates and to 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.
Needless to say, it’s great to see that Hayward is feeling well enough to even put together something like this.
