After Stephen A. Smith’s Locker Room Leak, Gordon Hayward Takes Credit for Jayson Tatum’s Initial Success

"The problem is Gordon Hayward working him back into the mix," said Stephen A. Smith about Gordon Hayward back in 2018. In professional basketball, where every move can make or break a career, sometimes the most impactful plays happen off the court. There have been many instances in the past like when Michael Jordan retired in 1994, Scottie Pippen's role in the Chicago Bulls expanded significantly. Similarly, when LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat in 2010, it helped Kyrie Irving showcase his playing style as a rookie. Moreover, this time Hayward has also made a similar comment despite getting dismissed by Smith five years ago.

In the recent episode of 'The Ryen Russillo Podcast', Hayward, who recently announced his retirement from professional basketball, was the main guest. The host Russillo brought up the time when Stephen A. Smith had expressed his doubt about the return of Hayward with the Celtics and questioned the GM of the team for his decision. However, the former small forward gave a new perspective to that situation. "That season was definitely the hardest season of my career, um, like easily... You know me getting hurt certainly helped JT and JB develop faster," said Hayward during the interview . But one question remains, what was actually the locker room leak?

Russilo, in his podcast, clearly mentioned that Smith had gotten hold of the information of Hayward's return to the Celtics after his injury, since there was no official announcement from the team. He directly claimed this was a locker room leak since the team had no official announcement.

As for Hayward, his NBA journey has been a roller coaster of triumphs and setbacks. The small forward, before being traded to the Boston Celtics, had a quite refreshing season with the Utah Jazz in which he ended up clinching the All-Star title. But all changed at the start of the 2017-2018 season. In just six minutes into the first stint with the Celtics, Hayward had fractured and dislocated his left ankle.

This move, according to Hayward, turned out to be quite beneficial for the then-rookie players like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and is quite understandable why he said so. In the first year of his career, Tatum averaged 13.9 PPG, 5 RPG and 1.6 APG. On the other hand, Brown averaged about 14.5 PPG, 4.9 RPG and 1.6 APG. These stats were quite good considering that they were players who were still adjusting with the pace of the league.

Fast forward to 2024, both these players highly contributed to helping the team win their 18th Championship. "I don't know if anyone thought they were going to be as good as they were going to be back then like when they were drafted and it was just something that, it just helped them do it faster," said Hayward about Tatum's and Brown's development in the podcast.

In the end, Hayward's comments serve as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of professional sports. Sometimes, the most significant contributions a player can make to a team's success come not from their presence on the court, but from the space they create for others to grow when they step away. Apart from this, the small forward also mentioned about his favorite teammate in the Celtics.

Gordon Hayward reveals his favorite Celtics player Hayward has made significant contributions to different teams in the NBA. However, in the same podcast with Ryen Russillo, Hayward gave an insight into who he thinks was his favorite young guy that he has ever played with.

At first, he was quite adamant about answering this question and even told the host that he has played with multiple great guys and also that he didn't have a personal favorite. But right after this, the forward turned to his former team, the Boston Celtics, and named Jayson Tatum the player he liked to spend time with. "I really enjoyed JT Jayson. When I was in Boston, we sat next to each other on the plane and so we were able to have conversations about just life outside of basketball," said Hayward during the podcast. Hayward also mentioned that those were the moments where he was able to connect with Tatum the most.

Hayward's appreciation for the young power forward is a testament to the camaraderie and respect that can develop among players within a team. Even though his stint with the Celtics was a short one, he surely created some good memories. And more importantly, in a way, good players.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the "Dual Threat Show" as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger