Hayward: Relationship with Brad Stevens is 'overstated and overhyped'

Gordon Hayward wants you to know that the decision to sign with the Boston Celtics was his and his alone.

The widespread narrative was that he wanted to reunite with former Butler head coach Brad Stevens. While the two are close, Hayward is adamant the bond between player and coach has been blown out of proportion, and may not have been the determining factor in him leaving the Utah Jazz in free agency.

"The relationship between Brad and I has been completely overstated and overhyped from everybody," Hayward said during a recent appearance on Adrian Wojnarowski's "The Woj Pod."

"And you mentioned it. There was always rumors about going to Boston, and those, to me, were always just rumors. I didn’t really ever think about it, because I wasn’t a free agent, wasn’t really concerned with the Boston thing. But everybody else was saying, 'Oh, he’s going to go to Boston because of Brad.' And we had a great relationship, but it wasn’t like we were constantly texting each other or calling each other. He’s the head coach of the Boston Celtics. He’s got things to worry about.

"I played for Brad for two years. And so it wasn’t like everybody kind of made it seem, like we were besties or something."

In Hayward's Players' Tribune piece he penned to announce his decision to join the Celtics, the 27-year-old referred to Stevens as the one he "could count on the most," and asserted the two have unfinished business together in the form of winning a championship, which they failed to do as Bulldogs.

The path of least resistance to that title comes in the Eastern Conference, and earning $128 million over four years to make a go of it isn't bad either. Still, it's hard to imagine Hayward choosing Boston if Stevens weren't there, no matter how he wants to paint the picture.

- With h/t to NBC Sports