One poster called Hayward a Brads golden boy(not nice).Gordon Hayward built himself into an All Star with hard work and being a complete player.Hayward deserves a medal for his hard work and his comeback-it was the second surgery and starting over rehab that delayed his recovery.
I had to not watch as the team spiraled out of control "He got spoon fed"",favoritism from Brad" or a" white fan favorite".What a crock!!!! I shut down watching even though i knew exactly what they were doing.Getting him back for the playoffs.
He was an All Star complete player that fit with Horford and had history with Brad and he got a max.
I think Kemba and Haywards leadership will be calmly efficient with Kanters comic relief a la Evan Turner and the building of a fan legend Tacko Fall.
I had enough of trading for Davis and Kyrie's Diva quit and loss of Horford over money.
We now have strong tough guys even Romeo was prepared with football to toughen him up by his father.-So those James Young comparisons just don't cut it.Romeo says he could have sat out but played in pain for his teammates and love of game.
I respect you a lot Rollie, but I have reservations with what you said about fans who're harping on Hayward.
1. Is he not Brad's golden boy? It's not "not nice" if what they're saying is a fact, the fact is that Hayward had an incredibly long leash while looking like he doesn't belong in the NBA at times (yes he had some great highs, but the lows were horrible and more frequent) compared to a talented young wing player like Jaylen, who Brad yanks off the court with the slightest lapse in his play regardless of the overall body of work he was putting out on the court (there were many instances where Brad pulled him out when he was lighting it up on the court, with a game against the Hornets being the most obvious and painful example this season). Is not getting much more preferential treatment what a "golden boy" receives?
2. So he worked his way up to an All-Star through hard work and dedication. Great, but that doesn't excuse the fact that he looks like a three point shooting Evan Turner at best throughout the course of the season who's earning 30 million a year. You can blame it on his injury, and I agree that it affected him a lot, but just because he worked so hard to get to star status and worked hard to get back to that status after a horrific injury doesn't earn him a free pass from fans when he's getting more minutes than he deserves to stunt our young players' development and make our team perform worse throughout the course of the season.
I'll be rooting for Hayward next season-just not unconditionally. He'll need to produce and prove that he's not a shell of his former self, and he'd better not eat up the minutes for guys like Brown if he flops. I agree with the rest of your post though, I'm excited for our team next season with Kemba and Hayward being our star veterans, at least on paper, while guys like Brown and Tatum get more minutes to grow (hopefully with Brown, but there should be more opportunities for him). Also disagree with the James Young comparisons regarding Romeo Langford-the heart stuff is cobwobble imo.
Jaylen -is young and a short leash is a teaching mechanism as much a Haywards long leash was part of his recovery.Because of the 2nd operation it set back timetable..I stated i stopped watching the Celtics because they were rehabbing Hayward at the expense of regular season..They ran out of time also a late in season sprained ankle but you have to learn that its still going to hold up
It sent Rozier into a tizzy that just festered.I remember Smarts rookie year he had that high ankle sprain thart effected his first step and lift and the Celts stuck with him throughout the season-Marcus said the pain didn't go away till mid summer.
Then just as his shooting was getting right he had that hand problem -last year Brad stated Marcus had his shooting ability delayed a year..An All Star free agent signing that suffers that kind of injury you stick with.
We will have to revisit this with of his play after this off season.
Even with my never being able to play again knee injury a shut the TV down but never ever considered favoritism--it was painful for Hayward -he knew what his poor play was doing but it had to be attempted for playoffs..
II take it you thought Hayward not an all star,.I thought he was a total package that much like Horford was very good at more things than elite players were..I will be very disappointed if he doesn't come back with a chip on his shoulder and play at a high level across the board -This was difficult for everyone the path was chosen. Remember!!! I almost broke my TV on those drive and kicks,drive and kicks,drive and kicks but i never blamed Hayward or Brad or Danny.
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I watched a video of Achilles ruptures and there was only one player that came back from that Dominique Wilkins. This is the worst injury for NBA basketball players.