Boston Celtics veteran forward Gordon Hayward is back blogging again, giving us all his first-person account of life in the Disney restart’s NBA campus located at the Wide World of Sports complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ahead of the Celtics’ first-round matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Hayward, who has been one of the Celtics’ best players since the team began play again after the near-four month hiatus, has been balancing basketball with family life at a distance.
And he’s been getting an absolutely massive assist from his wife Robyn, who is near-term in her pregnancy with their fourth child, due in September.
WATCH: Gordon Hayward highlights Celtics vs. Magic (31 pts, 9 rebs) https://t.co/33vwmG7aki
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 10, 2020
“I’ve been checking in daily with the family back home,” explained the Butler product in his new blog post.
“With the schedule being so different depending on whether we have a game or not, it’s hard to get into a true routine, but I’m talking to them and Facetiming with them throughout the day. But I definitely miss them a lot. Robyn sends me lots of pictures and videos, too. I love that she made up the sticker game for them to track my stats, so they can watch and understand the game a little bit more.”
She says they’ve really been enjoying that and are clearly having a lot of fun,” he added; no word on any feedback over his ‘stache-beard,’ though.
Maybe, he suggests, a little too much fun — evidently his girls can be pretty loud cheering for their dad.
Gordon Hayward has a 'beard-stache' — is it good luck for Boston? https://t.co/FYzvSaIJU7
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 9, 2020
As for what Hayward himself has been up to, the structure of Celtics basketball has kept him pretty busy since he got to the Disney campus last month.
“The days are going by super fast,” the Indiana native explained. “We’re already at the end of the seeding games and it kind of feels like we just started.”
“Our days are even more structured now than they were during camp. On off days, by the time you get yourself going, we have practice, shooting or a meeting, do an ice bath and get treatment. Before you know it, it’s 4 o’clock, and you kind of just relax and get ready to play the next day.”
In fact, Hayward’s been kind of a homebody.
Jayson Tatum’s love for golf has only grown in the Disney ‘bubble’ https://t.co/kMYSmPaHex
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 14, 2020
If you can be a homebody away from home, that is; “I still haven’t really done some of the activities they’ve set up for us. Haven’t been to the barbershop yet or done any fishing.”
“I think now that we’re playing, not a lot of guys are doing those activities either. We’re really just going to treatment, going to practice, getting food, hanging out in your room. Sometimes we’ll go get food together, and sometimes after the game I’ll hang out with some guys in the lounge area. I’ve hung out with some former teammates and talked a little bit, which is a cool thing I wouldn’t normally get to do.”
“Some guys are golfing on off days still,” he added, referring to Jayson Tatum’s second-favorite sport, “but other than that, everybody seems to be on this same routine I am.”
Hayward: Smart 'one of the best competitors I've ever been around' https://t.co/jl8eUP5A8W
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 2, 2020
Hayward goes into some detail in what the rest of the so-called ‘bubble’ experience has been like for him, touching on issues like dress code, transportation, and even a bit on how who ends up being chosen to talk with the press remotely (spoiler: it doesn’t seem especially complicated).
He also talks at length on the experience of playing without fans, how the team has been playing and his thoughts on the looming postseason matchup with the 76ers.
And yes, he also touches on gaming — this is Hayward writing this after all.
Read the whole blog here while we wait for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first round series with Philly to get started; we’re just three days away from Celtics playoff basketball.
