Boston’s Gordon Hayward went through some stressful times whhile he and his pregnant wife waited for his coronavirus test results, which came back negative. Bob Leverone/Associated Press
When news broke that the NBA was suspending its season indefinitely, the Boston Celtics were in Milwaukee – unable to play their scheduled showdown with the top-seeded Bucks and unsure what to do next.
They had recently taken on the Utah Jazz, which was a problem – Rudy Gobert was the league’s Patient Zero. Every game night, the players jogged into arenas with thousands of fans, hundreds of whom lined the tunnels and held out their hands for high-fives. Gobert might have been Patient Zero, but the Celtics had no way of knowing whether they had been exposed as well.
“I think everyone was a little bit scared at that point in time just because of the uncertainty and not knowing exactly what’s going on,” Gordon Hayward said in a conference call on Friday.
Hayward had extra reason to be concerned. Back home, his wife, Robyn, was pregnant with their fourth child, and no one seemed certain how the virus might affect a pregnancy yet.
“We were definitely a little nervous about the whole thing,” Hayward said. “Definitely didn’t want to let her – I mean anybody, but specifically her – get the virus because of the baby and we didn’t know what could exactly happen with that. So we were just very precautious with everything and I didn’t go anywhere or isolate myself or anything besides just being at the house. But I did – our doctor said, ‘Not as many hugs, not as many snuggles,’ until we can figure out if I’m positive or negative. So that’s kind of what we did until we got back the results.”
The results were negative – only Marcus Smart tested positive on the team, and he seems to be doing better. Hayward was relieved initially, and his family settled into their quarantine bubble. His three daughters watched movies and played video games. He and Robyn tried to teach them how to ride bikes without training wheels (“That’s not going too great right now,” Hayward said, chuckling).
But for the Haywards, like many others, the heavy realities of the situation began to settle in.
“I think everybody in the world has people that they’re connected to that have gotten the virus, and some people have been put on life support and had to go to the hospital,” Hayward said. “And that’s very sad, it’s heartbreaking. And that’s kind of why we have reached out and tried to do as much as we can for the people here in Boston, some of the community, with the things that we’ve done for that. But I think certainly for us, we just try to stay safe, make sure that we’re protecting ourselves, and not putting anybody else at risk. I think if everyone tries to do that individually, this thing will be better over the long run.”
The Haywards donated Dunkin gift cards to workers at Boston Children’s Hospital, and their girls made cards for local grocery store workers.
“We realize and appreciate so much what the people that are continuing to work and provide support and help for people that get sick, we wanted to show some gratitude to them, and highlight the heroes they are right now,” Hayward said.
In the meantime, the Haywards (and the rest of the NBA) are simply waiting for basketball to come back. They know they might be waiting for a while, but Gordon is trying to stay ready as best he can.
“I’ve thought about it a little bit, and whatever scenario they come up with will probably be something none of us players have dealt with before – whether it’s with everyone in Vegas or another location, maybe playing with no fans,” Hayward said. “Playing with no fans would be pretty wild – almost like a scrimmage at training camp. You have to bring all your own energy and home-court advantage is pretty much thrown out the window at that point in time. And then also thinking about playing a shortened playoff where that’s the case, too, where it’s best-of-fives or less. I don’t know, I don’t think anybody really knows. There’s been a lot of speculation and it’s hard to envision. But I know whatever it is, it will be completely different and really interesting to see how it all plays out.”
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