The Rehab Grind
It's been a few weeks since my last blog entry. I'm deep in the rehab process now, just grinding. Every morning is basically the same. Massage work. Balance work. Lift. Low Load circuit. Conditioning. Stuff [...]
Improving Every Day
As I continue the long, arduous process of rehab, I've found that it's important to keep things simple. The theme for me right now is, "Be better today than I was yesterday." I'm trying to [...]
Injury Recovery
Gordon Hayward is on the long road back to recovery after a serious ankle injury on Opening Night of the NBA season. Through it all, however, G-Time has remained incredibly positive and an important part of the [...]
In an Instant
I had run that play countless times. Last year with the Utah Jazz, it was one of our signature plays. I'd get an alley-oop from Joe Ingles almost once a game off it. This time, [...]
Back to Basketball
It was a wild summer—definitely the craziest offseason of my career—and I'm definitely relieved that it's over, and that it's nearly time to play basketball again. In a lot of ways, the first part of [...]
The Finals
One of the most highly-anticipated NBA Finals in recent memory is about to get underway, and it’s a series I’m definitely looking forward to watching—not only as a player, but as a fan of the [...]
PLAYING WITH PRIDE
We’re hitting the home stretch of the season now, with just 10 games left before the playoffs. I’m really proud of where we stand. We’ve had some ups and downs of late, but we do [...]
BECOMING AN ALL-STAR
The day I learned I had made my first NBA All-Star Team, I honestly wasn't thinking about it too much. We had a game that night, and I was focused on keeping my same routine. [...]
STATE OF THE JAZZ
I hope everyone enjoyed a happy holiday season, and is ready for a great new year. It was exciting to be home for Christmas Day, with it falling before a road trip this season, instead [...]
THE NEXT STEP
As we get ready to tip off the 2016-17 NBA season, there’s a buzz around Salt Lake City that hasn't been here in five or six years, probably since the Jerry Sloan days. The community [...]
FINDING BALANCE
It’s been quite the offseason for me and my family already, with still more yet to come as we wind toward another basketball season. Right now, I’m on Team No Sleep, but I’m still doing [...]
LOOKING FORWARD
I entered this offseason excited for what’s ahead and over these last couple weeks I’ve been getting ready to get to work doing the other part of my job as a player in this league, [...]
LOOKING BACK
Since the end of the season, I’ve had some time to unwind and decompress. I have to admit, it’s hard to not be playing right now. Instead, I’m just sitting at home and seeing the [...]
Back From The Break
The All-Star break is over, and all of us here in Utah were really excited to get back to basketball, and finish what we started this season. I did take a nice little break over [...]
The Case for Gaming
Originally published on The Players’ Tribune. […]
WHERE WE STAND
We’ve reached about the halfway point of the season, and I honestly feel pretty good about where we stand. We’ve had a very up and down year, and that goes hand in hand with being [...]
THE FIRST HURDLE
We’re in the midst of an important year here with the Utah Jazz, and as we get ready to begin the second month of the season, we're not necessarily where we thought that we would [...]
The Value of Offseason Work
It’s an exciting time right now as the summer draws to a close, and workouts ramp up with the season already fast approaching. I’m currently in Las Vegas getting ready to join Team USA for [...]
Baby Bernie
Bernadette Marie Hayward was born on June 6, 2015, so it’s been a little over a month since I became a dad. It’s been a tremendous, life-changing experience. She really hasn't been that alert so [...]
I Informed You Thusly
I’ve been receiving a lot of questions about how Robyn and baby Bernadette are doing, and I’m happy to report they’re doing very well and becoming a dad has been a life-changing experience. I’ll be [...]
THE FINALS
Can LeBron James will the Cleveland Cavaliers to victory, or are the Golden State Warriors just too much to handle? That's how I ultimately see this year's NBA Finals breaking down. The matchup actually reminds [...]
BEAST OF THE EAST
The conference finals got off to a great start last night in Oakland with Golden State's 110-106 win over Houston. It's hard not to be excited about these next two weeks, if you're a basketball [...]
BEST IN THE WEST
The 2014-15 NBA season has been one of the most thrilling years for the league in a while. In large part, it's been because of the unpredictability of it, which has carried over into the [...]
PREPARING FOR A BRIGHT FUTURE PART II
I’m really proud of what I accomplished this season. I put a great deal of hard work into my game last offseason, and to see that pay off and play the way I did this [...]
PREPARING FOR A BRIGHT FUTURE (PART I)
There’s been a lot on my mind over the last couple weeks as I put the 2014-15 season in the rearview mirror. I wanted to share some of what I was thinking about the season [...]
ALMOST CHAMPIONS
A few weeks ago, I had a moment of déjà vu that brought me back to the final moments of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. That’s not a place I revisit that much, to be honest. You [...]
Outlook At The Break
We’ve reached the All-Star break, 53 games into the season, and I’m pretty happy with the progress that we’ve made. What I like most about our team’s growth this year is the development on the [...]
A BIG-TIME ADDITION
It’s been an incredible year for me and my family. I got married to Robyn. I signed to stay in Utah, and we settled into a new home. And now, our team is making its greatest [...]
Making Headway Into The Holidays
As the 2014-15 season rolls on and we reach the holidays, there are a lot of interesting developments popping up around the league. It’s been a very competitive season and there are several teams that [...]
THE LEARNING CURVE
I really like being the underdog. So when we play against a team that is considered one of the best in the NBA and everybody kind of writes us off, I enjoy those games. It's [...]