Gordon Hayward says he was victimized by the court because of the color of his skin.
Hayward seemed far from upset when discussing the issue this week, instead laughing about it on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz.
“For whatever reason, when you see a white man watching you, it's like, 'Let's break him apart and go to him,'” Hayward said. “And so you have to hope that you stop that the first time, or they're going to keep coming at you all the time. And I was by no means the worst defender on the team, but for whatever reason, you check the game again [they say] 'We go to him. We're going straight to him.'
“When we played the Lakers one of the years and they had Ron Artest… he looks at me and then he looks back at Kobe and he's like 'Hey Kob, just throw me the ball in the post. Look who's watching over me. I have Bieber watching over me.'” @gordonhayward tells an incredible story… pic.twitter.com/pH05TFlUje
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) August 7, 2024
“I'm telling you, there's just a certain kind of belief. It's as if people's eyes light up. I remember, and this probably had nothing to do with the fact that I was white, but maybe it was like my face and hair and everything. But when we played the Lakers, I think it was one season ago, and they had Ron Artest. I've looked at the game and he looks at me and he looks back at Kobe and he looks at me and he's like, “Hey, Kobe.” He's like pointing at me like, “I threw the ball in the goal, man. Look who's watching over me. I got Bieber doing my garden.” And of course, you know he just sent me and Ron Artest was really good, I had no chance. I mean what can you do? At that point, what am I going to do? What am I going to say to Ron Artest?”
To be fair to Hayward, he was an above-average defender in his prime, even if he wasn't elite.
The former Jazz and Celtics star is now retired after playing his final season in 2023-24 with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
READ MORE: Kobe Bryant's Message To Gordon Hayward Revealed
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