Skip to content

Hayward: 'A lot of people are writing the East off'

Omar Rawlings / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Western Conference has been historically superior to its East Coast counterpart for the better portion of two decades, owing to great dynastic runs and long-term success by teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Golden State Warriors, and Dallas Mavericks.

With LeBron James taking his talents to the City of Angels, the Eastern Conference lost a perennial Finals favorite in the Cleveland Cavaliers, further tilting the power to the West. Despite that, Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward thinks reports of the East's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

"The East is still going to be a tough conference; I think a lot of people are writing the East off," Hayward said Thursday, according to ESPN's Jacob Wolf. "There were some surprises last year in the East, and there are still going to be teams that have young talent that gained a lot of experience last year that will be tough matchups for us. That said, I'm confident that we've got everything we need to make the run at the whole thing."

The Celtics will start the season with both their stars - Hayward and Kyrie Irving - back to full health. Both men were sidelined with injury while their teammates forged a path all the way to Game 7 of the conference finals in 2017-18. After fracturing his tibia five minutes into his Celtics debut, Hayward alone should give the Celtics additional lift.

"We've got a lot of depth," Hayward added. "We basically signed everybody back, so we're going to run it back. I'm very excited, very excited for what we can do as a team. Last year was a great year, although we had some injuries, and obviously not for me individually, but a great year for the Celtics, as far as guys getting experience in being put in situations they probably wouldn't have been put in. That's invaluable, so I think we're looking up."

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox