The exact injury Gordon Hayward is suffering is becoming a source of contention.
On Friday evening, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Hornets forward Gordon Hayward will be out indefinitely with a left shoulder fracture, and Hayward’s wife, Robin, agrees.
But that’s not how the Hornets framed it.
The Athletic report surfaced shortly after the Hornets listed Hayward as out Friday against the Timberwolves — won 110-108 by Charlotte — with a left shoulder contusion, a significantly lesser ailment than what Charania reported. But Robin disputed the contusion claim on her Instagram Story, noting the injury is significantly worse than the team’s claim.
“He actually has a fractured scapula… that they had him play with last game… that’s why he couldn’t move his arm up in the last game,” she wrote.
She later added: “I’m gonna stop here and not get into prior things” before continuing on a subsequent story.
“I’m over them not protecting players. Just was talking with a young player’s mom, and she was saying the same thing…” she concluded.
The one-time All-Star Hayward has struggled mightily with injuries throughout his career, highlighted by a horrific left leg injury in his debut with the Celtics in 2017. Until then, Hayward had played 92.6 percent of regular season and playoff games upon being drafted ninth overall in 2010.
But over his last five seasons, Hayward has only played more than 52 regular season games in 2019-20 and played in just five of the Celtics’ 17 playoff games that campaign. This season, he has been limited to 11 appearances for the 6-14 Hornets and missed eight games over a two-week period earlier in November with the same left shoulder injury.
Previously, the injury also had been listed as a left shoulder contusion by the team.
