Gordon Hayward was 27 years old when he joined the Boston Celtics in 2017, fresh off the first All-Star appearance of his career. He fit between Kyrie Irving and Al Horford on a team that had drafted Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart over the previous four years. They were loaded.
Only, five minutes into his Boston tenure, Hayward fractured his left tibia and dislocated his ankle. Seven years later, as his former team prepares to raise its championship banner, he has retired after 14 seasons, and it is impossible to process his NBA career without reflecting on how that gruesome injury shaped it.
“I expected things to go a lot differently in my mind when I decided to move and go play in Boston,” Hayward told Yahoo Sports via Zoom on Friday. “I was relatively healthy my first seven years in the NBA — until that major injury, and then it seemed like every year after that it was one thing after another.”
Hayward returned to the Celtics for two more seasons, including a trip to the 2020 Eastern Conference finals — marred again by a sprain to his other ankle. He needed a change and found one in Charlotte, where he averaged an efficient 16-5-4 but dealt with injuries to both of his feet, his hamstrings and his left calf.
“It’s unreal how your body is able to compensate,” Hayward said, “(but) your force has to go somewhere.”
In February, Hayward was traded from Charlotte to Oklahoma City, where he thought he would have a shot to contribute to a contender again, only to discover the Thunder had few playoff minutes for him.
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“I was proud that I got back out on the court,” said Hayward, now 34 years old. “I felt like I got back to the player I was. I had some of my career-best games in Charlotte. I’m at peace with my career and where everything took me. Unfortunately, the team aspect didn’t work out the way I wanted it to, but yeah: It’s hard to think about my career without thinking about Boston and the injury and everything.”
Meanwhile, he watched his former teammates on the Celtics win a championship without him.
“Obviously, I’m human. It would’ve been cool if I would’ve been able to do it when I was there,” said Hayward. “Certainly the expectations were to do that. But I still have great relationships with the people that are still there. I’m really happy for Brad [Stevens], for Joe Mazzulla and obviously for the guys that I played with while I was there — Al and Jayson and JB. They’re set up now to hopefully do it again this year.”
A “ton” of teams came calling for Hayward’s services this summer, hoping he could be a missing piece to a title contender, according to his agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports and Entertainment. But Hayward decided this was it for his hoops career, though he hopes to stay connected to the sport. He has four children between the ages of 4 and 9, and wanted to spend more time with his family.
“He was ready to move on with his life and other challenges,” said Bartelstein. “He is very happy, and that’s what matters most. His decision to move on from the NBA was not for any lack of interest.”
Funny how things work out, though. In Boston, Hayward met Simon Hacker, the filmmaker tasked with chronicling the one-time All-Star’s arduous rehab in a documentary series for The Players’ Tribune. So when it came time to figure out what do with the rest of his life, he and Hacker founded Whiskey Creek Productions, whose first project, “Notice to Quit,” debuted to more than 400 theaters over the weekend.
“It’s been a bridge, and it’s great to get my mind [off basketball] and jump right into this,” said Hayward.
“A lot of athletes have production companies, but they kind of get pigeonholed into doing sports movies, and this movie has nothing to do with sports,” he added. “It’s something that I think will relate to a lot of people. We want to be storytellers, and I think this one is a really cool story to tell.”
The independent film follows Michael Zegen (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) throughout a day in New York City, as he attempts to at once salvage his career and repair a fractured relationship with his daughter — a work-life balance theme that spoke to Hayward, who reviewed the film’s dailies between games last season. Among his first orders of business upon retirement was a trip to Lucasfilm’s Skywalker Studios for sound editing.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Hayward. “I’m hoping to be even more hands-on here in the future.”
Seven years after the world watched an injury alter his career in an instant, Gordon Hayward is content.