Gordon Hayward. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Gordon Hayward's one of the top 30 or 40 players in the NBA.
He's also not a robot. He has emotions, like the rest of us, so it shouldn't surprise you he was a little conflicted when he suffered a season-ending injury five minutes into his Celtics career, then spent the rest of last season watching Boston nearly reach the NBA Finals without him.
Hayward spoke with Barstool's "Pardon My Take" podcast and was asked if, after the injury, any part of him wished the C's struggled just to show they needed him.
"I don't think you'd be human if there wasn't a part of you that was like, 'I hope that we lose'," Hayward said. "I got hurt, I think we lost our first two games, but then we went on like an 18- or 19-game win streak, and I was like laying in bed like, 'Come on, what's going on?' There was a part of me that's like, 'Dude, they're winning without me, what's the deal?' But then, there's another side of you that's like, okay, this is why I came to Boston. We're gonna be good, we're gonna have a chance to win the whole thing. You're rooting for them, these are your teammates! So you've got two conflicting things going on at the same time."
Fortunately, Hayward's back and healthy now. So is fellow All-Star Kyrie Irving.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) reports