10 most impactful moments from the 2017-18 NBA season

10. Gordon Hayward‘s injury

On opening night, the NBA fanbase gathered in immense anticipation as Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and the Boston Celtics were set to take on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in a grudge match for the ages.

Irving was ready to prove he made the correct decision when asking for a trade out of Cleveland while LeBron was ready to prove him wrong. Gordon Hayward, on the other hand, was ready to show the NBA world that he made the correct choice in choosing Boston in free agency over the Utah Jazz and Miami Heat. Unfortunately, the excitement was quickly laid to rest after a brutal injury to the new Celtics wing roughly six minutes into the game.

If you were watching the game that night, you probably still haven’t been able to shake that moment out of your mind. Gordon went down hard and as soon as players on the court took a look at him, they all stopped playing. In that very moment, on the first night of the NBA season, it was clear that there were bigger things than basketball.

As players from both teams gathered in prayer on the court, the rest of the NBA world showed their love and support on social media.

Here’s a video of the injury (warning: this injury is quite graphic):

https://twitter.com/CertainBetting/status/920651250957537280

For those of you wanting to see the reaction of the players, without the graphic injury, here is a video for you:

This was one of the most impactful moments of the season. It was also one of the most unfortunate. The good news is moving on from here, it’s all positive (or at least not horrific).