Gordon Hayward Still Needs Walking Boot, Despite Being Seen Without It
BOSTON (CBS) -- Gordon Hayward caused a bit of a stir on social media on Wednesday night when he popped up in his wife Robyn's Instagram story playing video games with his daughter on his lap. But that wasn't the story with Hayward: it was that he was barefoot with no walking boot on his injured left leg.
Twitter users reacted to screenshots of the Instagram video with various GIFs and eyeball emojis, but it turns out that Hayward isn't miraculously closer to returning than he has been as he recovers from a dislocated ankle and fractured tibia. Head coach Brad Stevens told reporters before the Celtics' win over the Mavericks on Wednesday that Hayward still needs his walking boot, but it's a safe and normal thing for him to remove it at night.
"He wears the boot until a certain time every evening and then he can take it off," said Stevens. "When he moves around, he can move around with a brace that's like a boot. He is progressing and doing what he can do, what he's been cleared to do. It's been going well."
Hayward still has no timetable for his return and is not likely to play this season.
UPDATE: Celtics president Danny Ainge told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Thursday that Hayward could be just "a couple of weeks" away from permanently shedding his walking boot.
