Currently struggling with Charlotte, as has been the case for over three seasons now, Gordon Hayward spoke about his previous experience with the Celtics. At the microphone of Paul George's podcast, the Hornets winger returned to the famous 2018/19 season, which was to put Boston back as a candidate for the title, in particular thanks to his own return from injury, after a blank year.
With Kyrie Irving as leader, the young Jaylen Brown And Jayson Tatum who were gaining strength but also a certain Terry Rozier, who became his teammate in Charlotte, the Celtics seemed to have all the cards in hand to seek a new title. Except that nothing went as planned. The mayonnaise never took hold, and Boston failed in the conference semi-finals, beaten 4-1 by Milwaukee.
For Gordon Hayward, the sum of individualities has not transformed into a real collective on the ground because it has been polluted by too many personal objectives.
“In my eyes, it’s just that we had too many different objectives, and winning was not the most important”, said Gordon Hayward. “I don't blame anyone either, because I think it's human nature that is to blame. I was coming back from a season where I was an All-Star, so I was trying to prove that I was still an All-Star. Kyrie had also been injured the year before, he missed the playoffs, so he was trying to prove that this was still his team. Then there's JT, Jaylen and Terry who were coming off a period where they were all starters, where they had reached the Eastern Conference Finals the year before, and they were all trying to prove they were there too . We had maybe eight players coming off career bests and all of them were in their prime.”
Too many playmakers
Kyrie Irving was ultimately not the expected leader, Gordon Hayward had taken longer than expected to find his best level, and overall did not produce the hoped-for result. The former Celtics winger also highlighted the overly similar profiles of major players.
“The other problem was that there were too many of us in exactly the same position. We all needed the ball. There were notably scenes during our meetings reserved only for players, where we said the right things to each other, but which went in one ear and out the other. Like, 'Okay, that sounds good to me, we need players who sacrifice, but it doesn't have to be me.' But despite all the difficulties we encountered, we managed to reach the second round.”
Asked to react to the comments of his former teammate, Jayson Tatum confirmed the “terrible mess” caused by this lack of collective bonding between the major players and which ended with this failed season.
“You saw it, we all talked about it. It did not work as we would have liked. We were a very talented team, but it didn't work out. And that's okay. The guys learned and everyone moved on. But what Gordon said is pretty spot on. Players were coming back from injury, others were trying to prove themselves, like me. I was trying to be better than the year before. It was a difficult year”, he remembered. “Everyone wanted to do more. We didn't quite understand how to coexist with each other. That's how we learn. No matter how talented a team is, they must always work together. And like Gordon said, we still made it to the second round, it could have been worse.”
| Gordon Hayward | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2010-11 | UTH | 72 | 17 | 48.5 | 47.3 | 71.1 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 5.4 |
| 2011-12 | UTH | 66 | 31 | 45.6 | 34.6 | 83.2 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 11.9 |
| 2012-13 | UTH | 72 | 29 | 43.5 | 41.5 | 82.7 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 14.1 |
| 2013-14 | UTH | 77 | 36 | 41.3 | 30.4 | 81.6 | 0.8 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 0.5 | 16.2 |
| 2014-15 | UTH | 76 | 34 | 44.5 | 36.4 | 81.2 | 0.7 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 4.1 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 19.3 |
| 2015-16 | UTH | 80 | 36 | 43.3 | 34.9 | 82.4 | 0.8 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 3.7 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 0.3 | 19.7 |
| 2016-17 | UTH | 73 | 35 | 47.1 | 39.8 | 84.4 | 0.7 | 4.7 | 5.4 | 3.5 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 21.9 |
| 2017-18 | BOS | 1 | 5 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| 2018-19 | BOS | 72 | 26 | 46.6 | 33.3 | 83.4 | 0.7 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 11.5 |
| 2019-20 | BOS | 52 | 34 | 50.0 | 38.3 | 85.5 | 1.1 | 5.6 | 6.7 | 4.1 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 17.5 |
| 2020-21 | CHA | 44 | 34 | 47.3 | 41.5 | 84.3 | 0.8 | 5.0 | 5.9 | 4.1 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 19.6 |
| 2021-22 | CHA | 49 | 32 | 45.9 | 39.1 | 84.6 | 0.8 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 3.6 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 15.9 |
| 2022-23 | CHA | 50 | 32 | 47.5 | 32.5 | 81.1 | 0.7 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 14.7 |
| 2023-24 | CHA | 25 | 32 | 46.8 | 36.1 | 76.5 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 14.5 |
| Total | 809 | 31 | 45.5 | 36.9 | 82.3 | 0.8 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 15.5 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
