October 17th, 2017, opening night of the NBA, Boston Celtics all star, Gordon Hayward, suffered a broken ankle 5 minutes into the game, ending his season. Hayward was a significant free agent signed over the summer. Combined with the trade for all star, Kyrie Irving, Boston’s fan’s moral was at a level that hasn’t been at since the mid 2000s. They can finally compete for a championship.
Tension and animosity were building between two teams and fan bases. The Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers met in the playoffs last year and the year before. Now that former Cleveland All-Star Kyrie Irving is now playing for Boston, Cavs fans were angry leading up to opening night.
The first few minutes of the game were as expected, the Celtics were boo’ed every second they had the ball. Then it happened, just five minutes into the game, Gordon Hayward jumped up to catch a pass, but fell awkwardly breaking his ankle.
The atmosphere in the arena instantly from animosity to sympathetic and supportive. The Cleveland fans stopped booing, players from teams were left with nothing, but shock, fear, and sadness in their faces. Even though the two teams are rivals, the opposing players were just as hurt as Gordon’s teammates. Every basketball player’s fear is injury, and the players know that at the end of the day everyone is a family.
Great Okonkwo, a varsity basketball player at Edison and a die-hard NBA fan, said “Gordon Hayward’s injury ranks top 3 of the most gruesome injuries that I have seen,” when asked to rank how gruesome this injury is compared to others,“I felt angry, I feel like it was preventable.”
Another Edison basketball player, Tashon Taylor, rated the injury top 3 most gruesome he have seen as well. When asked “how did this injury make you feel?” Great said, “I was shocked, my mouth was open and I had to look away.”
Since Gordon Hayward’s injury, the Boston Celtics are the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. The young, exceptionally well coached team rallied together and are playing exceptionally well for Gordon.
Dwyanye Wade, praying for Gordon Hayward’s after his injury.
Photo by Daniel Rapaport
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