Gordon Hayward Says He Was Targeted on Defense Because He Was White

Posted on by Nick Jungfer
Gordon Hayward

Gordon Hayward says he was a target at the defensive end of the court because of his skin colour.

Hayward seemed far from upset when discussing the matter this week, instead having a laugh about it on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz.

“For whatever reason, when you see the white guy guarding you, it’s like, ‘Let’s iso him and go at him,'” Hayward said. “And so you gotta hope that you get to stop that the first time, or else they’re just going to keep going at you every single time. And I definitely wasn’t the worst defender on the team, but for whatever reason, you check in the game and [they say] ‘We’re going at him. We’re going right at him.’

“I’m telling you, there’s just some sort of stereotype. It’s like people’s eyes light up. I remember, and this probably didn’t necessarily have 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 pre-season one of the years, and they had Ron Artest. I checked in the game and he looks at me and then looks back at Kobe and looks at me and he’s like, “Hey, Kobe.” He’s like pointing at me like, “Just throw me the ball in the post, man. Look who’s guarding me. I got Bieber gardening me.” And sure enough, you know he just posted me up 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 Epic Message to Gordon Hayward Revealed

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