Gordon Hayward will put his family first when it comes to playing in the NBA’s return to play in Orlando, Fla., if the situation at home compels him leave the bubble.
Speaking to reporters Friday, the Boston Celtics star addressed his wife Robyn’s pregnancy. Hayward indicated it would it would be a “pretty easy decision” for him to leave Orlando if she were to go into labor in September, which would occur during the postseason as currently scheduled.
“There’ll be a time if and when we’re down there and she’s going to have the baby, I’m for sure going to be with her,” Hayward said of his wife, Robyn, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “We’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there.”
The Haywards already are parents to three young children, and Hayward admits it will be tough to leave his family when the Celtics travel to Orlando for the season’s resumption, which is scheduled to tip off on July 30 at the Walt Disney World Resort’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The Haywards’ plan is to have the baby in Indianapolis, where there’s family to help Robyn with the newborn, especially if the Celtics star elects to return to Orlando to compete with the team in the later rounds of the postseason, if Boston makes it that far.
Hayward addressed any potential return to the team while making note of league policy concerning such matters, which states if a player leaves for less than seven days and tests negative on each day, a quarantine of four days is required upon returning to the bubble.
“I know the NBA has a protocol for that type of thing and hopefully I can do the quarantining and testing the appropriate amount of time and then be back with the boys,” Hayward said.
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