Teenage Gordon Hayward once asked Brad Stevens about the ‘last thing’ a coach would want to be called about
At Gordon Hayward’s first press conference since his gruesome ankle injury, the Celtics forward lightheartedly mentioned that he has more time for video games now that he is presumably out for the season. But gaming is by no means just a way to pass the time for Hayward.
The 27-year-old has been an avid gamer since he was a kid, as he’s spent countless hours playing Super Mario Brothers, League of Legends, and Halo. Celtics coach Brad Stevens first got a dose of Hayward’s passion for video games when he was recruiting him to come to Butler.
“I was on a competitive Halo team, and we would enter tournaments for money,” Hayward told Glixel. “I didn’t really think about it, but there are a lot of NCAA rules and violations as far as like making money and doing certain things. So I had to call Coach Stevens and ask him if it was OK to play in a Halo tournament.”
“I’m sure that was the last thing he wanted his new recruit to be calling him about.”
Hayward recalled the exchange in a Players’ Tribune piece,
“Hello?”
“No, Halo.”
“Halo?”
“Yeah. It’s a video game.”
“And you want to play in a tournament?”
“Yeah … I’m on a team with some friends and there’s a cash prize, so I just want to make sure it’s cool with the NCAA.”
“A video game tournament?”
“Yeah.”
“Uhhhh, okay, let me look into that and get back to you.”
Hayward said that his coach was ultimately “OK” with his participation, much to his excitement, and he ended up winning the tournament.
