Gordon Hayward Injury Casts Pall Over NBA Season Opener

Much of the "excitement for the NBA built up over an incredible summer was zapped less than six minutes" into the season, as new Celtics F Gordon Hayward "dislocated his ankle and fractured his tibia" in the first quarter against the Cavaliers (SI.com, 10/17). With the injury, the "celebratory tenor of the season opener quickly turned solemn" (WSJ.com, 10/17). The NBA season "couldn't have started worse." Hayward's injury was the kind that "fills an arena with solemn silence" (USA TODAY, 10/18). The injury drew "ghastly comparisons with Paul George and Joe Theismann" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/18).

Meanwhile, FS1’s Skip Bayless is drawing criticism for a tweet he sent out shortly after Hayward’s injury. He wrote, “If Gordon Hayward is gone, maybe for the season, LeBron's path to losing a sixth finals gets even easier.” Many NBA players wrote back to Bayless, with Raptors G DeMar DeRozan writing, “You’re a clown for that tweet after a man gets hurt with a potential career ending injury! Shit bigger then basketball!”