Any bottled up vitriol couldn’t be unleashed, not with the subject in a position many grew accustomed to witnessing over a good portion of the past four years.
The man who inked the largest contract in franchise history until LaMelo Ball took the crown with his max rookie extension was back in the building, affixed in a familiar place for the anticipated homecoming: on the bench in street clothes. A fitting scene if ever there was one.
Gordon Hayward never made it onto the Spectrum Center court Sunday night, taking a seat for Oklahoma City’s 121-118 win against the Charlotte Hornets due to a strained left posterior tibialis sustained Friday night in Indianapolis.