The new 2017-2018 NBA season officially started Tuesday night with the hyped up match-up between Eastern conference rivals, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics. Unfortunately, the game was derailed just few a minutes into the game when Celtics forward Gordon Hayward suffered a gruesome leg injury that put both fans and players in a state of shock and disbelief.
Around five minutes into the first quarter, Hayward cut to the basket for a backdoor alley-oop play. The player landed awkwardly, and soon the referees called a halt to the game after Hayward was seen grimacing in pain and his left foot pointing outward in an obviously dislocated manner.
It was a horrific scene, one that had players on the nearby Cavaliers bench cringing out of their seats in an attempt to look away from the player's broken leg. Players on the court quickly scattered away, as team personnel and doctors rushed toward Hayward.
League-hardened players like Dwayne Wade found himself kneeling on the court in what looks to be a silent prayer. Lebron James, meanwhile sat on the scorer's table with his head bowed down.
The Celtics team came together and huddled in prayer. Former Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving looked very emotional after the incident, while his new Celtics teammates tried to comfort him.
The usually raucous Quicken Loans Arena crowd fell into a hushed murmur, as they watched doctors set the rival player's ankle back in place, a procedure that had to be done as soon as possible to minimize damage to the leg's vascular structures.
The Celtics are calling the injury a fractured tibia and dislocated ankle. While the gruesome appearance of the injury may suggest more damage, Hayward has already began the process of recovery. The player has undergone a successful surgery back in Boston and is looking forward to getting back in form to his new team. However, the 27-year-old forward is expected to miss the rest of the season.
