Brad Stevens: Full Recovery Expected For Gordon Hayward; No Timetable For Return
BOSTON (CBS/AP) – Celtics Head Coach Brad Stevens said Wednesday that further tests confirmed the initial diagnosis on Gordon Hayward's injured ankle, but added there is no timeline yet for recovery.
Tests confirmed that Hayward suffered a broken tibia and dislocated ankle Tuesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Hayward suffered the gruesome injury just 5:15 into his Celtics career after taking a nasty fall on an alley-oop attempt. The 27-year-old signed a four-year, $128 million contract with Boston over the offseason.
He will under surgery Wednesday night.
Hayward sent a video message from his hospital bed before the team's home opener on Wednesday night, telling Boston fans: "It's hurting me that I can't be there."
The crowd at the TD Garden for the Celtics' game against the Milwaukee Bucks cheered when Marcus Smart directed fans' attention to the scoreboard, where Hayward appeared wearing a hospital gown and sitting up in bed. The arena hushed to hear the brief message, then erupted in another cheer when it was over.
"What's up, everybody? Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's had me in their thoughts and prayers," Hayward said in the 30-second message, which was also sent out by the team on Twitter.
"I'm going to be all right," Hayward said. "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 walk out on that floor tonight. But I'll be supporting you guys from here, and wishing you the best of luck."
Stevens was asked if this is a season-ending injury.
"I'm not going to speculate or put a timeline on it," Stevens said.
The team will know more about a recovery timeline following surgery.
"He's down," Stevens said. "There's a physical pain to it, but there's also doubled by the emotional pain of, he put a lot of effort into trying to start his career out well in Boston. This is a setback, but we're expecting a full recovery. We know there are going to be a lot of tough days ahead on that recovery, but at the same time hopefully, it'll improve day to day. But it's been tough on him."
Stevens praised the Cavs' response to the injury as "top notch," and said he did not believe there was any ill intent on the play by former Celtic Jae Crowder.
"There was no ill-will, no fault. Nothing," Stevens said. "I haven't re-watched it. I don't really have any interest in re-watching it because of the fall. But I didn't think that at all when I was watching it live."
Marcus Smart will start in place of Hayward on Wednesday.
Stevens said that while the team will miss Hayward's presence on the court, but they can't dwell on the injury.
"We've got a game tonight," Stevens said.
Fans who never got to see Hayward in a Celtics uniform lined up before Wednesday night's game to sign a banner imploring him to get better and "come back stronger than ever" from the injury. Other fans held up hand-made signs wishing him well.
Celtics forward Daniel Theis wrote "GH20" on his shoe, and a fair number of Hayward's No. 20 jerseys were visible in the crowd, which began chanting his name late in the first half.
After playing his first seven years with the Utah Jazz, Hayward signed a four-year, $128 million contract this offseason to rejoin Stevens in Boston — part of a near-complete roster overhaul for the team that finished first in the Eastern Conference last season.
The team also traded fan favorite Isaiah Thomas to Cleveland for fellow All-Star Kyrie Irving and shipped out regular starters Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder. In all, just four players on the roster finished last season with the team.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
