Hornets forward Gordon Hayward has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols and will miss Wednesday’s game at Indiana, Charlotte’s PR department tweets. Hayward has been dealing with right foot discomfort and was listed as questionable earlier in the day (Twitter link) after missing the past two games versus Atlanta and at Toronto, respectively.
Hayward is in the second season of a four-year, $120MM contract with the Hornets. He’s having another strong season for Charlotte, playing 45 out of 48 games (33.1 MPG) while averaging 17.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 3.7 APG, and 1.0 SPG on .471/.397/.846 shooting.
A one-time All-Star with Utah, Hayward has struggled to stay on the court at times after suffering a gruesome ankle injury during the opening minutes of his debut with Boston in 2017/18. However, he’s been very effective over the past three seasons when he’s been able to play. The Hornets (26-22, seventh in the East) have struggled without Hayward this season, going 0-3 thus far with an average margin of defeat of more than 14 points.
Hayward is now the 12th player actively in the protocols according to our tracker, down considerably from the end of last month. He is currently the lone Hornets player affected.
Floor is lava! This guy cannot stay on the court…