Gordon Hayward says he had mixed feelings about how well the Boston Celtics played during his absence last season.
Hayward suffered a horrific leg injury in the Celtics’ season-opening game last year. Even without him, Boston won 16 in a row and went on to put together a season no one could have imagined. Not only did they not have Hayward for the entire season, but Kyrie Irving was shut down for the rest of the regular season and postseason in late March. The Celtics still managed to secure the No. 2 see in the NBA’s Eastern Conference and took the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Watching the Celtics succeed without him was hard for Hayward at first.
“I don’t think you’d be human if there wasn’t a part of you that like, ‘I hope that we lose,’” Hayward told Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take, via CBS Boston. “That happened at the very beginning of the season. I got hurt, we lost our first two games but then we went on a 16-game win streak. I was laying in bed and there was part of me that was like ‘they’re winning without me, what’s the deal?’”
“You have two conflicting things going on at the same time,” Hayward continued. “If you didn’t think that, I don’t think you’re human. You’re a natural competitor and they’re doing well without you.”
Though some can say that’s a selfish approach for Hayward to take, it’s easy to understand his position. People always want to feel valuable, and it’s hard to feel that way with your team succeeded without you on the floor.
Boston now has Hayward and Irving healthy and enters the season as one of the favorites to represent the East in the NBA Finals.
