On October 17, 2017, at Quicken Loans Arena, the Boston Celtics were primed to unleash a truly terrifying squad. But in a brutal instant, that potential was shattered when Gordon Hayward suffered a devastating injury that nobody who watched it will ever forget. It was supposed to be the start of something special, a legitimate threat to the league, and instead, it became one of the biggest “what-ifs” in recent NBA history.
Honestly, if I had a time machine, October 17, 2017, would be my first stop. I’d be grabbing Hayward out of midair like an overprotective parent catching a toddler jumping off the couch. I’d move Jae Crowder six feet to his left. I’d run onto the court and block Kyrie’s lob pass. I’d pull the fire alarm at Quicken Loans Arena if I had to, anything to keep him from landing that way. The initial weeks after were brutal. Less than three weeks post-injury, Hayward spoke to reporters, and the raw emotion was clear: “I still have negative thoughts; it’s hard not to, especially when you watch the games,” he said in November 2017. “I think I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t have those thoughts.” You just felt for the guy.
People seriously forget how absolutely loaded that Celtics squad was about to be before Opening Night. Hayward was 27 years old, fresh off the best season of his career in Utah, where he averaged 21.9 points and made his first All-Star team. He was exactly the kind of big, versatile wing Brad Stevens could build an offense around. And don’t forget, Boston had just traded Isaiah Thomas for Kyrie Irving! All of a sudden, Stevens had Irving, Hayward, prime Al Horford, a 21-year-old Jaylen Brown, and this 19-year-old rookie named Jayson Tatum who, get this, seemed mildly promising. Golden State was still the top dog, but Boston entered that season looking like Cleveland’s biggest threat in the East, maybe even the favorite. We technically saw that team for about five minutes. Five minutes! That’s not even enough time to decide on lunch leftovers, let alone evaluate an NBA contender.
Here’s the wild part, though. As much as you wanna rewrite that moment and cheer for a healthy Hayward, you gotta get nervous about what else you’re undoing. The real timeline for that Celtics franchise eventually got Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Banner 18. I’m never rooting for an injury, ever. But the universe works in crazy ways, right? That injury, as horrific as it was, accidentally set in motion a different path. It’s a tough thought, wondering what that superteam would have actually achieved, knowing the actual outcome delivered a championship.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Celtics Blog.
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