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Sounds Like You Can Close The Book On Possible Gordon Hayward Comeback

BOSTON (CBS) -- There's been a whole lot said about whether or not Gordon Hayward would make a miraculous return to the Celtics before the end of the season.

It's been a roller coaster for Celtics fans, especially those who held out hope that Hayward would be hitting shots for Boston during their upcoming playoff run. Even with Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge both saying  that Hayward will not be playing this season (numerous times), that hope still remained.

Video of Hayward taking some "jumpers" a few weeks ago reignited the flames that the forward was on the path to a return, but the fact he was barely getting off the ground led to some rational realization that we'd probably all have to wait until next October to see him back with the Celtics.

Then Celtics TV play-by-play man Mike Gorman doused those hopes with gasoline on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Wednesday, saying he believes Hayward will indeed be back in the near future.

"Everybody tells me that he's working out eight-to-nine hours a day, just religiously working out, doing everything asked of him and more. It seems to me that if Gordon Hayward thought his next basketball game was next October, he might not be working out nine hours a day right now," said Gorman. "I truly believe that before the playoffs are over, we'll see him in a Celtics uniform."

It took less than 24 hours for those hopes to get dashed once again.

If there's anyone who knows Hayward, it would be his father, Gordon Hayward Sr., and he doesn't think his son will be back on the floor this season.

"He's working his tail off and if he could play that would be great, but I don't think that's really possible," Gordon Sr. told the Deseret News in Indianapolis on Wednesday. "He's not even running or jumping yet."

Ainge further emphasized Hayward Sr.'s beliefs on Toucher & Rich on Thursday.

"I don't believe that Gordon thinks he's going to play [this season]," Ainge said.

So there you have it. A Hayward return is being shot down once again by the C's president, and now the player's father is also joining in. It certainly sounds like a safe bet to close the book on a possible Hayward comeback.

Just don't expect the hopes of a return to die down completely until the Celtics season comes to an end.

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