Gordon Hayward has dealt with a lot of injury issues during his two-plus year tenure with the Boston Celtics. Between brutally breaking his leg just minutes into his Celtics tenure and suffering a freak broken hand amid a strong start to the season in November, Hayward has been on the sideline a lot for the C's.
On Wednesday, Hayward missed the Celtics' win against the Dallas Mavericks as he dealt with foot soreness. The injury was unknown to most until the team announced he'd be out for the game.
And this injury certainly should cause concern for the C's, especially as the team deals with injuries to other key players.
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On the latest episode of the "Celtics Talk Podcast", A. Sherrod Blakely and Chris Forsberg discussed the team's injuries and the level of concern they have for each. And both agreed that Hayward's foot could be a big cause for concern.
Blakely was particularly worried about Hayward's injury and noted that even despite all the time he has had off, he is still dealing with the lingering foot problem.
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When I think about the fact that he had so much time off between games, he had even more time off because we find out it happened before he got hurt, his last injury, and they gave him a cortisone shot on, what, I think Friday? And we're talking [by] Wednesday it still hadn't [been] effective, it made things worse? I'm not feeling good about this at all.
Forsberg agreed that there is reason for concern about Hayward and pointed to the fact that the cortisone shot didn't work as a red flag for the team. At the same time, Forsberg said that nothing would surprise him with the injury.
It wouldn't surprise me if he plays in the next game and it wouldn't surprise me if he misses a week. So, I'll be very curious to see how they approach it to get him back to where he needs to be. Because I think much like last year when Brad [Stevens] was forceful in trying to get him in there, because he knew he was so important to the success of the team. I think there's going to be a similar tendency now where okay, maybe you're confident that guys can better hold the fort, but you know how important Gordon is long term.
And Hayward certainly is important for the team long term. So far this season, he has averaged 17.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists for the team this year in 11 appearances. They have a record of 8-3 when he is in the lineup.
Hear more from Blakely and Forsberg about what upgrade Danny Ainge might look to make and a special interview between Michael Holley and former Celtics star Antoine Walker on the latest episode of the "Celtics Talk Podcast", which drops every Thursday as part of the NBC Sports Boston podcast network.
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