This member of the Charlotte Hornets is off to the best start to a regular season that he’s seen in years.
Getty Images Terry Rozier of the Boston Celtics, Gordon Hayward and Marcus Smart celebrate during the second half of the game against the Indiana Pacers at TD Garden Charlotte Hornets forward Gordon Hayward is off to the best start to a regular season that he’s seen in over three years. For Hayward, his time with the Boston Celtics was the most trying years of his career. One year removed from the season-ending ankle injury in his first game with the franchise that inked him to a four-year, $128 million deal meant the bulk of the following season would be spent rebuilding his ankle, along with his overall strength and conditioning and the graduality that came with it showed in his averages. Hayward averaged 11.5 points,4.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 72 games throughout 2018-19; a significant dip in the All-Star scoring numbers he averaged in his last season with the Utah Jazz – 21.9 points,3.5 assists. And in the meantime, two stars in the making in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were grooming into franchise cornerstone players.
