Gordon Hayward is one of the many talents in the NBA who failed to reach his full potential due to a plethora of injuries. However, the leg injury he sustained during the 2017-2018 season opener was the most horrific one of all. Had it not been for the same, Hayward could’ve gone to become a multiple-time All-Star according to a former coach of his.
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Hayward was expected to be the key piece that led the Boston Celtics to an NBA championship alongside Kyrie Irving. However, the injury would change the course of his career. According to the forward’s former coach Tyrone Corbin, the 6ft 7 swingman could’ve had a significantly decorated resume.
“So I think that he could have been a multiple, multiple-time All-Star head, but he’s not been injured as much as he had”.
Corbin appeared on SiriusXM Radio and even shed light on the Butler alum’s athleticism. Further, Hayward was also a versatile and all-around player with a high basketball IQ.
“He was a sneaky athlete before the injury… He had situations where he could jump and you were like, wow. You know, it was amazing how high he got or how much distance he could cover to go block the shots from the weak side.”
“His understanding of the game, the way he could handle the ball for a side, you could play through him at times because he’s really a smart player, could play point guard, he could function at point guard for a while for you. Could play off the ball, coming off screens to make shots and plays on the weak side,” Hayward’s former coach stated.
"He was a sneaky athlete before the injury"
🔊 Gordon Hayward's former coach, Tyrone Corbin, talks about the player Gordon was after he announced his retirement last week@TermineRadio | @Jumpshot8 pic.twitter.com/jjIZMfVd1R
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) August 5, 2024
There is a lot of merit in Tyrone Corbin’s statements. Hayward did show sparks of being one of the top forwards in the league. Merely a year before suffering the horrid injury, Hayward was coming off the best season of his career.
Hayward participated in 73 games during the 2016-2017 season and concluded with 21.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. Apart from receiving the first All-Star nod of his career, the swingman would also be responsible for leading the Utah Jazz to their first Conference Semi-Final appearance in six years.
Gordon Hayward averaged a respectable 14.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game for the remainder of his career after the injury. However, he was never able to be consistent with his performance and be healthy enough to play more than 52 games (since returning to the starting lineup in 2019).
Ultimately, the leg break he sustained as a Celtic led to a downfall in his career so bad that he retired a few days ago after a subpar season with the Charlotte Hornets and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
