Gordon Hayward made a nice living in the NBA for 14 seasons as a deadly 3-point shooter and a solid scoring option.
Several weeks ago, he announced he was retiring from pro basketball at the age of 34.
He went on “The Jim Rome Show” recently, and he was asked why he decided to retire when he was still a serviceable player this past season.
Hayward responded that while he could’ve played a couple more years, his four kids are starting to get older and he wanted to move on to the next phase of his life.
Gordon Hayward on how he knew it was time to walk away from basketball. pic.twitter.com/XwGdtSlF1q
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) September 17, 2024
The age of 34 is a somewhat early age for NBA players to retire at in the modern era thanks to the miracle of modern medical science.
Hayward certainly knows about injuries, as he suffered a gruesome lower leg injury during opening night of the 2017-18 season as a member of the Boston Celtics.
He missed the rest of the season, and for the rest of his career, he had trouble staying healthy.
But even if he was in and out of the lineup, his jumper continued to often go through the hoop.
He retired with a lifetime average of 37.0 percent from 3-point range, and last season, he made 41.1 percent of his 3-point attempts while averaging 9.8 points in 24.4 minutes a game.
In February, the Charlotte Hornets traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who finished with the best record in the Western Conference, and he closed out his career with a loss in the second round of the playoffs to the Dallas Mavericks.
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