Former Jazz All-Star Gordon Hayward Clears Air on 2017 Defection to Boston

Gordon Hayward broke his silence on breaking Jazz Nation's heart.

April 18, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) during a stoppage in play against the Los Angeles Clippers in the second half in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Former Utah Jazz All-Star Gordon Hayward has been making the rounds since announcing his retirement from the NBA. He's calling it quits after a 14-year career and has been quite vocal since making the announcement.

Hayward's latest comes from Round Ball Roundup on the team website, where he was asked what motivated him to leave Salt Lake City and sign with the Boston Celtics in the summer of 2017, breaking the heart of every Jazz fan worldwide.

“Brad [Stevens] was one of the biggest reasons as to why I left," Hayward said. "Brad was the first coach to kind of tell me he thought I had a chance to play in the NBA, and he recruited me—was actually Butler’s assistant coach when I was in high school and recruited me and ended up being the head coach at Butler. So, I had a great relationship with Brad and felt like that was the best step for me and my family moving forward in my NBA career. So, that was the reason why I left, but it was something that ate me up.”

"I mean that was one of the things that was so cool about the Jazz,,,"@jp_chunga sat down with @gordonhayward to reflect on his incredible career in the league and his time with the Jazz. Listen to #RoundballRoundup wherever you get your podcasts or watch now on YouTube 📺⤵️

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) August 21, 2024

Jazz fans will never forget the day they heard that Hayward left for greener pastures. At the time, it felt like a coin flip on the outcome, but in hindsight, the writing on the wall said he was long gone.

Unfortunately, Hayward's career in Boston got off to an awful start due to a gruesome injury in which he dislocated an ankle and fractured his left tibia just five minutes into his debut in a Celtics uniform. He was able to come back and put up a respectable stat line, but he was never able to be the player that made the All-Star team in his last season with the Jazz.

Utah was able to rebound quickly from Hayward’s departure, thanks to the emergence of Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell was drafted one month before Hayward left, and it will always be a mystery how good a Mitchell, Hayward, and Rudy Gobert trio would have fared in the NBA.

Even Hayward has uneasy feelings about the decision and reflected on his time in Salt Lake City as a Jazzman. 

“Even thinking about it now, I start to get the stomach feeling a little bit," Hayward said. "I had so many great years, and still have so many great relationships with people that are there today. I have friends, you know, so it was really a tough decision.”

Now that the dust has settled on Hayward’s time in Utah, will he be remembered as a villain to Jazz fans? He wasn’t welcomed back with open arms returning to the Delta Center with the Celtics.

However, neither was former Jazz point guard Deron Williams, and those fences have been mended. Fans should remember the good days rather than dwelling on the Jazz-Hayward breakup.

Time will tell, but it appears Hayward has moved on and has no ill feelings about his time with the Jazz.

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