Celtics general manager Danny Ainge said this week he mistakenly spoke about Gordon Hayward having a setback in his rehab, explaining that his statement was the wrong choice of words to use.
Ainge, who’s served as general manager and president of basketball operations for the Celtics organization since 2008, originally put a scare Celtics fans’ minds by stating Hayward suffered a setback.
“He had like one setback for a couple of weeks, maybe a month and a half ago,” Ainge said. “We were progressing a little bit too fast, we thought.”
Despite Brad Stevens consistently repeating he doesn’t expect Hayward to return this season or during the postseason, his return for the postseason remains entirely possible. Should he suffer a setback in his rehab, however, those chances would likely diminish.
“You know what? Sometimes I talk too much,” Ainge told the Boston Globe. “‘Setback’ wasn’t the right word, so let me rephrase that because it’s not exactly true to say it — or say it that way.
“What happened is he went on the AlterG [anti-gravity treadmill] the first day and he felt some soreness. It was the first day he tried the AlterG, a long time ago. He just wasn’t ready for it at that point. That’s all it was.
“So I think ‘setback’ is the wrong way to put it. I mis-phrased that. I’m not sure what the right word is, but he wasn’t ready for that. So we waited a couple of weeks before we started that again, and since we started that again it’s been great and he’s progressed along on the AlterG. That’s all. It wasn’t like he had an accident or anything like that.”
Despite losing Hayward for the season to a fractured ankle, the Celtics have managed to post an impressive 47-23 record. They hold the No. 2 seed just three weeks before the regular season comes to a close.
