Hayward's free pass has been revoked...

[straightouttabahstun]

Dawg, this is from last week before the T-Wolves game. Hayward had a super competitive practice and then did all this and then everyone on the team was essentially waiting for that 30 point game. No friction. People are pushing each other in practice.

I'm happy that the team is treating Hayward like this. He's on the team playing ball. The only way he'll get more assertive is for these situations to happen.

[Roy H.]

One guy is in the league because of effort and the other guy is here because he was anointed by the fans, front office, and coaching staff before ever even wearing a Celtics Jersey.

In truth, one guy has exceeded his draft expectations, and the other has disappointed a bit. Both are hard workers; neither was anointed.

[johnnygreen]

It was certainly not my intention to trigger so many emotional and somewhat unhinged responses to what seems like a fairly obvious contrast in situations to an objective observer.

Smart has returned from MANY injuries with an accelerated timeline and to my memory has never been afforded the myriad of excuses that have recently been offered for Hayward's poor performance.  Images of him diving for loose balls in the playoffs last year after tearing the ligament that prevents your thumb from dislocating are still fresh in my mind.   

I'm actually a fan of both players, sorry to ruin the lazy and inaccurate narrative that I just don't "like" Hayward.

However, I do feel it's undeniable that: 1. Hayward was being cheered in this arena while playing for another team 2: Was out of a walking boot before the end of LAST season. 3. Didn't show any real urgency to make it back onto the court. 4. Was given playing time without having to earn it with his play.

I expect these factors most likely rubbed some of his teammates who weren't gifted max contracts at the request of their former college coach the wrong way.

Hayward turned down more money from Utah (a max contract with an additional year), so I’m not sure how he was “gifted” a max contract by his college coach. He was literally the number 1 free agent the year he was eligible and was clearly a max player.

There is a huge and laughable difference between tearing a ligament in your thumb and breaking your leg and dislocating your ankle. I can’t imagine any sane person opting for Hayward’s injury over tearing a ligament. His injury was so bad, that it wasn’t out of the question if he would ever play again.

[Alleyoopster]

Too often it's the fans and media who get all worked up on these things. The players usually forget these incidents the second they step off the floor. 

[CF033]

via yahoo sports

"Gordon Hayward and Marcus Smart got tangled up in practice on Wednesday and Hayward proceeded to attempt to dunk everything the rest of practice.

Advice: Smart doesn't back down from anyone, even his own teammates. In this case, there was nothing wrong, just two teammates practicing hard, but it really sparked Hayward. His return hasn't been easy, but maybe his 30-point explosion on Saturday is a sign of the tide turning for the better."

Friction between these too was bound to happen eventually. 

One guy is in the league because of effort and the other guy is here because he was anointed by the fans, front office, and coaching staff before ever even wearing a Celtics Jersey. 

Hayward having a full year to recover from an injury returning to the court in "Fortnite Shape" definitely didn't help him build credibility or respect with his teammates. However, getting competitive in practice and going at people is a nice first step on the way back to NBA relevance.

I expect these factors most likely rubbed some of his teammates who weren't gifted max contracts at the request of their former college coach the wrong way.

Yea, these posts just aren't holding water.

Hayward wasn't 'gifted' a max contract, that was his market value when we signed him. His recovery is pretty much in line with what everyone expected. 23 games in and IMO he's looking at around 80% of his former self. I think most agreed that Christmas is a good time to assess how he is doing.

Now did Danny make a mistake by cramming too many high level wings on the team? Maybe. Of course sometimes things just unfold a certain way.

[timpiker]

People who give Gordon Hayward no respect have no idea what they are talking about.  I love Marcus Smart AND Gordon Hayward.  Both are great bballers.

[GreenEnvy]

It was certainly not my intention to trigger so many emotional and somewhat unhinged responses to what seems like a fairly obvious contrast in situations to an objective observer.

Smart has returned from MANY injuries with an accelerated timeline and to my memory has never been afforded the myriad of excuses that have recently been offered for Hayward's poor performance.  Images of him diving for loose balls in the playoffs last year after tearing the ligament that prevents your thumb from dislocating are still fresh in my mind.   

I'm actually a fan of both players, sorry to ruin the lazy and inaccurate narrative that I just don't "like" Hayward.

However, I do feel it's undeniable that: 1. Hayward was being cheered in this arena while playing for another team 2: Was out of a walking boot before the end of LAST season. 3. Didn't show any real urgency to make it back onto the court. 4. Was given playing time without having to earn it with his play.

I expect these factors most likely rubbed some of his teammates who weren't gifted max contracts at the request of their former college coach the wrong way.

Your posts would make more sense if you just didn’t like him. The fact that you attempt to justify these responses undeniable facts like: he was out of a walking boot last season. What does that even mean? Once he’s out of a boot, he should be playing? Did you know he had a second surgery after being out of said boot? Guess that really doesn’t matter since we saw him without a boot.

I’ve seen video of him working hard the entire time. Zero proof he didn’t try to get back ASAP.

And does every player need to earn their PT after injury? Should Kyrie have come off the bench to start season while stinking it up?

[RockinRyA]

It was certainly not my intention to trigger so many emotional and somewhat unhinged responses to what seems like a fairly obvious contrast in situations to an objective observer.

Smart has returned from MANY injuries with an accelerated timeline and to my memory has never been afforded the myriad of excuses that have recently been offered for Hayward's poor performance.  Images of him diving for loose balls in the playoffs last year after tearing the ligament that prevents your thumb from dislocating are still fresh in my mind.   

I'm actually a fan of both players, sorry to ruin the lazy and inaccurate narrative that I just don't "like" Hayward.

However, I do feel it's undeniable that: 1. Hayward was being cheered in this arena while playing for another team 2: Was out of a walking boot before the end of LAST season. 3. Didn't show any real urgency to make it back onto the court. 4. Was given playing time without having to earn it with his play.

I expect these factors most likely rubbed some of his teammates who weren't gifted max contracts at the request of their former college coach the wrong way.

Objective my ass.

Go compare Paul George's injury timeline to Hayward's. The mere fact that Hayward was just weeks removed from his first 5v5 game before training camp is telling. There's aboEdited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.ely no way he couldve played last season, as much as he wanted to. That he had surgery to remove plates in the offseason should be another indicator. Objective? Don't make me laugh.

[RJ87]

It was certainly not my intention to trigger so many emotional and somewhat unhinged responses to what seems like a fairly obvious contrast in situations to an objective observer.

Smart has returned from MANY injuries with an accelerated timeline and to my memory has never been afforded the myriad of excuses that have recently been offered for Hayward's poor performance.  Images of him diving for loose balls in the playoffs last year after tearing the ligament that prevents your thumb from dislocating are still fresh in my mind.   

I'm actually a fan of both players, sorry to ruin the lazy and inaccurate narrative that I just don't "like" Hayward.

However, I do feel it's undeniable that: 1. Hayward was being cheered in this arena while playing for another team 2: Was out of a walking boot before the end of LAST season. 3. Didn't show any real urgency to make it back onto the court. 4. Was given playing time without having to earn it with his play.

I expect these factors most likely rubbed some of his teammates who weren't gifted max contracts at the request of their former college coach the wrong way.

Did you not see how happy for him every single one of his teammates were for him after his performance in Minnesota? Yeah, that strikes me as a guy who doesn't have the support of his teammates.

Plenty of excuses have been made for Smart - just look at his numbers. He's never improved his shooting but most posters are content with it because he makes "winning plays" or his "passion" makes it acceptable for him to put his fist through glass causing him to miss several weeks of the season. Sorry Hayward couldn't continue to play through last year even though his foot was literally bent the wrong way.

As to your numbered points, Hayward was never supposed to spend the full season in a walking boot. That's called part of rehabilitation, not sure why you think it's supposed to count negatively against him. Showed no real urgency to get back on the court? Lol. WUT? I work in physical therapy, he was never coming back last season. Even if his rehab went perfectly - which it didn't because he had to have a second procedure to remove his hardware over the summer. That was a pipe dream invented by fans.

[BitterJim]

Too often it's the fans and media who get all worked up on these things. The players usually forget these incidents the second they step off the floor.

The best example I can think of is how people made a big deal of Smart and Brown arguing/yelling on the bench a couple of years ago, both players were fine with it but some people around here were claiming that it meant we needed to trade one of them (which one we needed to trade depended on who the person posting liked more)

[Erik]

It was certainly not my intention to trigger so many emotional and somewhat unhinged responses to what seems like a fairly obvious contrast in situations to an objective observer.

Smart has returned from MANY injuries with an accelerated timeline and to my memory has never been afforded the myriad of excuses that have recently been offered for Hayward's poor performance.  Images of him diving for loose balls in the playoffs last year after tearing the ligament that prevents your thumb from dislocating are still fresh in my mind.   

I'm actually a fan of both players, sorry to ruin the lazy and inaccurate narrative that I just don't "like" Hayward.

However, I do feel it's undeniable that: 1. Hayward was being cheered in this arena while playing for another team 2: Was out of a walking boot before the end of LAST season. 3. Didn't show any real urgency to make it back onto the court. 4. Was given playing time without having to earn it with his play.

I expect these factors most likely rubbed some of his teammates who weren't gifted max contracts at the request of their former college coach the wrong way.

1 and 2 are undeniable facts. 3 and 4 are opinions I disagree with.

Agree that #3 is highly questionable and straight up unfair. I'm pretty sure the Celtics flat out told him that he couldn't return that season.

However, you really disagree with #4? If you're playing better than someone and getting less playing time and getting paid less, there will be friction. No one gives a **** about how good they used to be. Every single person on this team is hungry. They're not just here to make Gordon's life as comfortable as possible.

[wiley]

the "free pass" one or two vocal posters never game him.

[Rosco917]

Good stuff on one hand ... and so pathetic on another.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

It was certainly not my intention to trigger so many emotional and somewhat unhinged responses to what seems like a fairly obvious contrast in situations to an objective observer.

Smart has returned from MANY injuries with an accelerated timeline and to my memory has never been afforded the myriad of excuses that have recently been offered for Hayward's poor performance.  Images of him diving for loose balls in the playoffs last year after tearing the ligament that prevents your thumb from dislocating are still fresh in my mind.   

I'm actually a fan of both players, sorry to ruin the lazy and inaccurate narrative that I just don't "like" Hayward.

However, I do feel it's undeniable that: 1. Hayward was being cheered in this arena while playing for another team 2: Was out of a walking boot before the end of LAST season. 3. Didn't show any real urgency to make it back onto the court. 4. Was given playing time without having to earn it with his play.

I expect these factors most likely rubbed some of his teammates who weren't gifted max contracts at the request of their former college coach the wrong way.

1 and 2 are undeniable facts. 3 and 4 are opinions I disagree with.

Agree that #3 is highly questionable and straight up unfair. I'm pretty sure the Celtics flat out told him that he couldn't return that season.

However, you really disagree with #4? If you're playing better than someone and getting less playing time and getting paid less, there will be friction. No one gives a **** about how good they used to be. Every single person on this team is hungry. They're not just here to make Gordon's life as comfortable as possible.

The best five players on this team include Gordon Hayward. He worked in the off-season to get right. He put in the effort. He worked in the past to be the really good all-around player he is. That's why he started.

No one wanted to baby Hayward. No one wanted to make his life comfortable. No one wanted to give him minutes just because he made more than 30 million a year. In fact, Hayward said before the season that he'd be ok coming off the bench.

As well as this team has done with Smart in the starting lineup, the reason for the recent success is not that he is a better player or works harder than Hayward. In fact, you could argue that the reason for the recent success has been Hayward, even though he is coming off the bench.

[GreenShooter]

via yahoo sports

"Gordon Hayward and Marcus Smart got tangled up in practice on Wednesday and Hayward proceeded to attempt to dunk everything the rest of practice.

Advice: Smart doesn't back down from anyone, even his own teammates. In this case, there was nothing wrong, just two teammates practicing hard, but it really sparked Hayward. His return hasn't been easy, but maybe his 30-point explosion on Saturday is a sign of the tide turning for the better."

Friction between these too was bound to happen eventually. 

One guy is in the league because of effort and the other guy is here because he was anointed by the fans, front office, and coaching staff before ever even wearing a Celtics Jersey. 

Hayward having a full year to recover from an injury returning to the court in "Fortnite Shape" definitely didn't help him build credibility or respect with his teammates. However, getting competitive in practice and going at people is a nice first step on the way back to NBA relevance.

Tommy Points: 99  98
[giveth one]

[taketh one]