Athletes, Fans React to Gordon Hayward's Gruesome Injury in Opener

Reaction is pouring in after just five minutes into his Boston career, new Celtics star forward Gordon Hayward gruesomely injured his left ankle, an injury that may end his season.

Hayward, who signed a four-year, $128 million free agent contract this summer, went up for an alley-oop pass midway through the first quarter and collided with LeBron James. Hayward's leg twisted underneath him as he came back to the floor. The 27-year-old collapsed under the basket and looked in horror as his left foot was pointing outward.

He put his hands to his face and dropped back to the floor as a hush fell over the charged sellout crowd inside Quicken Loans Arena, which had come to boo Kyrie Irving in his return to Cleveland after being traded to Boston this summer.

Hayward's new teammates huddled in prayer at their bench as a distressed James covered his mouth and several Cleveland players nearby looked away. Hayward had his leg placed in an air cast, and James came over and consoled him before the he was pushed from the floor on a stretcher and taken for treatment.

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Cleveland's crowd gave Hayward a roaring ovation as he left.

The team tweeted that Hawyard's left ankle was broken. But head coach Brad Stevens said after the game that he had heard Hayward had suffered a dislocated ankle and a fractured tibia. It's a devastating blow for the Celtics, who had overhauled their roster with the signing of Hayward and acquisition of Irving in hopes of closing the gap on the Cavs in the Eastern Conference.

Now, they will be without Hayward for an extended period as he will likely need surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation.

Not long after Hayward went down, Oklahoma City All-Star Paul George sent encouragement to him on Twitter, asking for prayers. George overcame a similar injury when he broke his leg while playing for the U.S. national team.

God bless you bro @gordonhayward ! 🙏🏾 help him thru this god!

— Paul George (@Yg_Trece) October 18, 2017

George wasn't the only athlete to react to Hayward's injury. Houston Texans' JJ Watt, who was also recently injured this season, and ex-Celtic-turned-Cavalier Isaiah Thomas were among the other sports legends to show their support for Hayward on social media.

https://twitter.com/Isaiah_Thomas/status/920639032765435904

View this post on Instagram

Be sad. Be mad. Be frustrated. Scream. Cry. Sulk. When you wake up you will think it was just a nightmare only to realize it’s all too real. You will be angry and wish for the day back, the game back THAT play back. But reality gives nothing back and nor should you. Time to move on and focus on doing everything in your power to prepare for surgery, ask all the questions to be sure you understand fully the procedure so that you may visualize it in your subconscious while being operated on and better the chance of it’s success. Then focus on the recovery process day by day by day. It’s a long journey but if you focus on the mini milestones along the way you will find beauty in the struggle of doing simple things that prior to this injury were taken for granted. This will also mean that when you return you will have a new perspective. You will be so appreciative of being able to stand, walk, run that you will train harder than you ever have. You see the belief within you grow with each mini milestone and you will come back a better player for it. Best of luck to you on this journey my brother #mambamentality always.

A post shared by Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) on Oct 18, 2017 at 8:38am PDT

Fans around Boston were also sharing their concern on Twitter, with one saying he "could barely sleep" after watching Hayward get injured.

https://twitter.com/MikeyA2K/status/920444586140585984