Boston Celtics veteran forward Gordon Hayward thinks we might be in for a bit of unintentional comedy if the NBA doesn’t schedule some regular season games as a warm-up when the league resumes the 2019-20 season in Orlando Florida later this summer.
With the NBA having suspended most activities since the March 11th diagnosis of Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert with the virus behind the pandemic, players have not had much chance to stay in game shape, never mind practice.
So the Butler product isn’t expecting the crispest of basketball to be played without some games to get back in the groove, which he recently related in an interview with the Boston Herald’s Mark Murphy.
“If you go straight to the playoffs it will for sure be sloppy basketball,” began the Indiana native.
“It would literally be like having the playoffs at the beginning of the season, which from an entertainment standpoint probably pretty entertaining, because guys will still be trying to figure things out,” he added.
But it’s not just sloppy play that concerns Hayward — a lack of “ramp-up” could present more serious problems, too. “If you go straight to the playoffs you’re going to be risking injuries, too,” explained the 30-year old swingman.
In a lot of ways, the hiatus has almost introduced a second season into the season, according to Hayward.
“After a whole regular season, guys have figured out what you’re going to go to down the stretch of games, what lineups are really good, what are not so good, who plays well together, [etc.]. Because of this long break, almost all of that is like starting a season.”
“I haven’t been near any of my teammates in this long break,” he elaborated.
Another factor that’s been an issue for the Celtics in particular is the lack of availability of the team’s practice facilities.
The NBA allowed teams in markets permitting it to use their gyms at the beginning of the month, but Boston’s local government hasn’t made that available for the team.
And as a result, players have been getting in exercise wherever they can find a means of doing so, sometimes risking their health to do so.
“I can almost guarantee that there are players playing pickup games somewhere, playing real basketball in different states,” offered Hayward.
“That’s obviously an advantage for players that have been doing that.”
“I don’t know where all of our guys are at,” he added. “A lot of our guys haven’t been around. Certainly for me, being here in Boston with the three girls, I haven’t been able to go anywhere. I don’t want to say it’s a disadvantage, but not being able to play definitely sucks.”
“That’s where giving everyone the same amount of time to find your rhythm will be necessary for sure,” he suggested.
“I don’t think three weeks is long enough,” he argued.
“You’re fighting to get the season in, trying to get some normalcy before the next season, versus making it fair and that players have enough time to get their bodies ready … The further we get away from the season, it’s almost like everything that was accomplished in the regular season at this point is thrown out the window.”
“Everyone that was hurt will be back,” Hayward added.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, given that both he and All-Star point guard Kemba Walker have had issues with their lower extremities flaring up from the grind of an 82-game season.
Second-year center Robert Williams III also probably benefited from a little more time to recover from a hip injury that had him out much of the 2019-20 season as well, though the loss of continuity can also take away in other ways.
“During this season you find this rhythm, this groove that you get into because of running the same plays over, getting the same shots,” explained Hayward, “learning about how you play with one another, the timing of when you’re going to be in and when you’re going to be subbed.”
“All that stuff you have to figure out, and all that stuff happens at the beginning of the season. Now that we’ve taken such an extended break, it’s almost like you’re going to be starting over,” he observed.
“That part of it will for sure be something everyone has to adjust to, and not being able to train the way I’ve wanted to, it will be interesting to see how they allow us to come back with the timing and all that.”
Some players — like Kemba Walker and Grant Williams, for example — have access to full courts to practice on.
Others, like Jayson Tatum, had none at all for some time, instead having to wait until some other means of training intervention can be pulled off in the midst of a pandemic.
And that ankle that’s given the former Bulldog some grief this season?
“My ankle feels good. I had issues with my left foot throughout the year, and certainly haven’t been able to get the treatment I need, but sometimes the best treatment you can get for what I was going through is rest and time off.”
“I have gotten that,” he said in something of a likely understatement.
“That’s been good for all of us. But when you’re not in basketball shape, you can’t do it too quickly, because your muscles need time to adjust.”
Thinking back to the injury that caused the balky ankle in the first place, it’s no mystery why the Indiana native would want to take care not to bother it further.
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