Last night, Gordon Hayward decided join a loaded Boston Celtics squad in order to have a chance to win an NBA championship next season. Fans of Hayward’s now former team, the Utah Jazz, didn’t take the decision very well and began burning his jersey as soon as he made the announcement that he was leaving the team.
https://twitter.com/MozeztheLeader/status/882585121236430849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeadspin.com%2Fajax%2Finset%2Fiframe%3Fid%3Dtwitter-882585121236430849%26autosize%3D1
#betrayward pic.twitter.com/WEmlj0DlJ3
— Ryan Mortensen (@MortyRyan) July 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/spee_C/status/882433940279054336?
#betrayward pic.twitter.com/sw3e8IKJ6b
— Andrew Rembacz (@ArembaczNBA) July 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/Zini_Alex/status/882400464301510659?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeadspin.com%2Fajax%2Finset%2Fiframe%3Fid%3Dtwitter-882400464301510659%26autosize%3D1
@gordonhayward #betrayward pic.twitter.com/IKO8E3W8GR
— tate larsen (@TateLarsen) July 5, 2017
Let’s also check in how Utah sports writers are reacting to Gordon’s departure.
He leaves behind the team, the people, who may not have been perfect but that were fine enough to help develop him into the player he is. That says something about who and what Hayward is, as a competitor, as a man. That’s the confounded thing about NBA free agency — players expect fans and franchises to give them darn near everything they’ve got, and then when they mostly receive it, they remember the times when maybe they didn’t get everything exactly the way they wanted it. And they run off to some other place where the grass looks greener, but the people and circumstances are no more flawless.
Fenway, Schmenway. Boston fans might cheer him now. Wait until he doesn’t win a championship.
Hayward could have owned this state had he shown a warmer side, had he reciprocated the positive emotion that did come his way. He made basketball advances that were profound. His connection to Utah, to the people here, though, seemed emptier than it should have.