It's hard to remember, but Hayward was an elite wing last year. He was not some fringe all-star, he was a superb scorer and good at pretty much everything else. Even if it takes time for him to come back to 100%, the expectation should be that he's going to be 2nd to Kyrie in terms of being a primary scorer and primary ball handler next season.
Except that's pretty much exactly what he is, a one-time allstar who was a ho-hum 20 ppg scorer in heavy minutes for the most part of his productive career.
Also, the fact that he's seeing a foot specialist right now that's going to teach him how to run should give you a major pause.
That’s a big reach, especially considering the fact that the only other NBA player I know who saw a walking/running specialist to manage the way he runs is Stephen Curry.
Don't know about Curry. But personally, when they're telling me that the guy who snapped his angle now needs help with the way he runs, I'm concerned.
The team also said the both Hayward and the Celtics have previously worked with this particular running specialist. So, if there is a concern, I doubt it is explicitly related to the broken ankle. Hayward may have overcome a hitch in his run in the past and needs to re-learn to overcome the hitch since he went a long time without running.
Sure. And it's not worrisome to you that he needs to relearn how to run because of a traumatic injury? That's not "business as usual" to me.
Oooh. Watch out, Max Kellerman. You may be out of a job soon.
If I recall correctly, Ainge said - literally - that he's away from the team working on his running mechanics. If you have to change something as basic as the way you run because of an injury, you've officially got me concerned. But perhaps I'm just paranoid, it won't be the first time.
You don’t recall correctly. Maybe that’s the issue. At no point did the article say there was an issue with his running mechanics.
What it did say is that he’s seeing a running specialist, which is something who’s making more than a hundred million dollars to play basketball would do, in order to check that the injury isn’t causing him to favor his leg or something.
But you said he has to “relearn how to run.” Which is patently ridiculous given what was actually written.
I mean he’s probably seeing an orthopedist periodically too. Oh no! Has he broken his leg again?