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Horrific injury rocks NBA season opener

With Dan Devine | Ball Don't LIe

WARNING: The video below contains graphic images that some viewers may find disturbing.

The new NBA season has started in sickening fashion after Boston's Gordon Hayward suffered a horrifying leg injury.

Just minutes into the first game of the season, the Celtics recruit went up for an alley-oop but came down awkwardly and broke his left leg.

As Hayward leapt to corral the pass from ex-Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving, Cleveland star LeBron James rotated over to try to break up the play. Hayward got caught in the air between James and Crowder, and landed awkwardly and very, very hard on his left leg.

Players were visibly distraught. Image: TNT
Players were visibly distraught. Image: TNT

TNT announcer Kevin Harlan immediately recoiled at the play, saying “Oh my goodness, Hayward broke his leg.”

The other players on the court all immediately reacted in shock as they watched the 27-year-old writhe in pain in the lane, his left leg gnarled in a horrifyingly unnatural position.

Hayward left the court on a stretcher. Image: Getty
Hayward left the court on a stretcher. Image: Getty

Coaches and trainers raced over to his side. Fans at Quicken Loans Arena coalesced into a stunned murmur. Players from both teams knelt on the court.

“And that is how quickly a season can change,” Harlan said.


Hayward left the court on a stretcher with his left leg immobilised, receiving well wishes from his teammates and opponents, and hearing supportive cheers from the crowd in Cleveland.

TNT’s Kristen Ledlow reported that Hayward was being transported to a local hospital for further evaluation and treatment.

After spending the first seven seasons of his NBA career with the Utah Jazz, developing into one of the best playmaking forwards in the league, Hayward signed a four-year, $128 million maximum-salaried contract to come to Boston.

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Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge viewed Hayward as a vital piece of a retooling effort aimed at toppling LeBron and the Cavs — a versatile ball-handler, facilitator, scorer, spot-up shooter and defender who could play off the ball alongside fellow new arrival Irving and incumbent big man Al Horford, and give the Celtics the kind of punch they haven’t had at small forward since Paul Pierce’s heyday.

Those best-laid plans appear to have gone by the wayside — for now, at least — less than half a quarter into Hayward’s first game in green.

The Celtics looked set to beat the Cavaliers on Tuesday, but LeBron James, with 29 points and 16 rebounds, led his team to a 102-99 victory.

Australian forward Aron Baynes played with aggression in his first game with the Celtics, challenging James at the rim in his six points, five rebounds, one block debut.







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