The NBA Last Night

Last night was opening night for the NBA and with arguably the most crazy offseason ever, there were tons of storylines converging all at once. Just to name a few: potential anthem protests, Kyrie comes back to Cleveland after being traded, the new look Cavs. And that’s not even getting into the Warriors-Rockets game. But everything was changed in one moment, 5 minutes into the Cavs-Celtics game. The Gordon Hayward injury struck me so intensely, I am still having a hard time believing it happened. Both opening games were really good but everything was overshadowed by the injury.

I highly recommend not watching a replay of the injury, it was gruesome. The reactions of the players is more than enough. I can still hear the announcers freaking out as everyone started to realize what had happened. Teams and basketball became irrelevant for a while, everyone just wanted to stop and process what happened. The announcers didn’t say a word for the next few minutes, just feeling instead of talking. I couldn’t watch the rest of the first half, I was just so shaken. Anyone who saw the Kevin Ware NCAA injury knows those feelings. But it was incredibly frustrating to hear the TNT analysts talking about championships only a couple hours after the injury.

There is no doubt that the Celtics are hurt by the injury. But can we just wait a day before talking about the Celtics championship odds? In this world of hot takes and fighting for views, something this drastic and this gruesome needs time. Fans, players, everyone needs to pause and process what they witnessed. I am glad TNT warned everyone before showing a replay but they had no need to show his agony and they didn’t need to follow it up with how the Celtics can’t win a championship now. It is inevitable that the discussion will happen and that is ok but let’s have some patience and feel for Hayward. Empathy is important, especially nowadays and it can show up in so many ways. Isaiah Thomas was traded from the Celtics to the Cavs after putting his body on the line last playoffs. He went to Hayward and sat with him, putting aside all the drama that had been building for weeks.

I just wanted to express that frustration so I could start to move on. There are more important things going on in the world than sports but it was so jarring that nothing else mattered that night. The agony on his face said more than just the pain I am sure he was feeling. It’s a pain that extends beyond the physical and it hurt to see. I wish only the best for Hayward and hope he recovers fully.

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