I think it’s important not to kick the guy as he walks out the door, but there is a sting from a guy who we showed such patience with after the ankle injury. Basically we stuck with this player through two throwaway years, got one good year out of him (minus playoffs), and... he gone. Plus there’s the whole unfinished-business-with-Brad thing (remember that Player’s Tribune post?), and, of course, everything we’ve been hearing this past week about him wanting to go back home to Indiana. So yeah, this one hurts.
I think some of us are now realizing that our assumption that Hayward was somehow different that other players — small ego, willing to sacrifice for the team, happy to take a supporting role, not just about the money — was false. In the end, Hayward sounds more like most other elite athletes: looking to score big on his next contract, preferring to be one of the top guys wherever he plays, and probably a little in denial about the current stage of his career. That’s more a criticism of us than it is of the player.