Boston Celtics veteran forward just couldn’t catch a break in his 2020 NBA Playoffs luck, but it wasn’t for lack of effort.
Originally planned to leave the Disney restart bubble to be present for the birth of his fourth child and first son, the Indiana native instead elected to remain with his team after exiting the bubble to rehabilitate a severely sprained ankle sustained early in the team’s first round series with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Somehow, his team survived both Philly and the Toronto Raptors in the East Semifinals without him, only to stumble against the Miami Heat in the East Finals, Hayward looking like a shell of himself as he tried to play through injury by coming back two weeks ahead of schedule.
While his stat lines might not have been eye-popping, you have to respect his dedication to his team and the unreal sacrifices he made both on and off the court that he made for his teammates and fans.
Watch the video embedded above for all of Hayward’s best plays from Boston’s series with Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals.
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