Boston Celtics fans witnessed a horrifying moment on Tuesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers, when National Basketball League All-Star, Gordon Hayward, broke his ankle five minutes into the NBA Season Opener. The injury happened after Hayward jumped for a pass and collided with LeBron James, before collapsing under the net.
After the initial confusion, fans, players, and staff were hit with the shocking reality of what they had just seen.
Once the medical staff was able to assess the seriousness of the injuries, and with Dwyane Wade kneeling next to him, Hayward's face immediately went blank from the shock. It has been confirmed that he dislocated his ankle and fractured his tibia, and he will likely need surgery. In an interview after Tuesday night's game, Brad Stevens told reporters that they would have more information regarding Hayward's injury on Wednesday.
Hayward receives standing ovation as he's taken to the locker room
Hayward received a standing ovation as he was taken to the Cavaliers' locker room. In a report by ESPN, Cavalier general manager Koby Altman was "ashen" after Hayward received x-rays, along with everyone else who was present.
In the same report, head coach, Brad Stevens, addressed the remaining team members during halftime, after noticing that they were still dazed over Hayward's injury, "I don't have any magic words for that. You're all hurting for him. I'm not going to try to take the human element out of it."
According to Sports Illustrated, everyone felt horrible for Hayward, especially since he was only five minutes into his homecoming debut before suffering from the injury that will likely end his 2017 NBA season. The Boston Celtics continued the game but were unable to shake the confusion and shock. They walked away with a 102-99 loss.
Hayward signed a $128 million dollar, four-year contract with the Celtics in July of 2017, which also reunited him with Stephens, who was his former college basketball coach at Butler.
Boston will still face some challenges
Hayward was a strong defense, which was the Celtics' weakest position.
With Hayward gone, Boston will have to put extra focus into their defense, to compensate. With Stephen's' current roster packed with unmatched talent, Boston will have no problem providing opposing teams with a good challenge. Plus, Marcus Morris will be returning soon, after missing the first week of the season due to knee soreness, which will add more opposition to the other teams.
Regardless of how Boston moves forward in the 2017 season, what happened in Tuesday night's game is still unfortunate.