2. Gordon Hayward
This is where the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors really need to start kicking in. Gordon Hayward’s brand new season with his brand new team was five minutes and 15 seconds old before his ankle decided it wanted to try out some bold, new postures.
I was lucky enough not to see the injury. I did, however, see this:
And I saw this
And I saw this:
That was enough. Even before reading reports of the injury and hearing Kevin Harlan declare “Hayward has broken his leg,” the situation was clearer than clear. Hayward would be out for a long time, and the 2017 season was starting in just about the worst possible fashion.
It’s been about a week now, and we have some good news. Hayward could make it back before year’s end, and if all goes well he’ll be back at 100 percent of what he was before. And while the Celtics are improved this year, they probably weren’t expecting to be in the hunt for a championship this year. If they did well, it was a bonus. If they didn’t, it was growing pains.
Outside of Hayward’s presence on the basketball court of our lives, the biggest thing lost here is time. Maybe Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will get a bit more seasoning being moved one spot up on the pecking order, but it’ll take the two of them and Kyrie and Horford and Hayward to match up against the Warriors or any other contenders. The timeframe on their coalescence has been pushed back a year. Maybe it matters, and maybe it doesn’t. We don’t know, and we can’t do a thing about it.