Hayward’s competitive debut for the Celtics ended in horrific fashion last night, just five minutes into the game.
The small forward landed awkwardly on his left ankle after going up to collect Kyrie Irving’s attempted alley-oop pass.
Medical officials immediately rushed to his aid and his leg was put in a cast before being stretchered off the court when it was confirmed he had dislocated his ankle and suffered a fractured tibia.
Losing Hayward for an extended period will be devastating to the Celtics’ hopes of making a push in the regular season after the team signed him to a four year, £97million contract this summer.
How did everyone react to Gordon Hayward’s injury?
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And Stevens confirmed Celtics fans’ worse nightmare that Hayward would require surgery to fix the injury, but expects the former Utah Jazz star to make a “full recovery”.
“I was [at the hospital] for a minute last night and also again today for an hour or so. He’s down,” said Stevens.
“Obviously there’s a physical pain to it but I think it’s also doubled by the emotional pain of, you know, he put a lot of effort into trying to start this, his career out well in Boston.
“But this is a setback; we’re expecting a full recovery.
“And we know there are going to be a lot of tough days ahead on that recovery but, at the same time, hopefully he’ll improve day-to-day, but it’s been tough. It’s been tough for him.”
Hayward was consoled by both Celtics and Cavaliers players last night and fellow NBA players past and present have flooded social media with words of support for the 27-year-old.
And Stevens went on to say he is not surprised at how the team reacted to news of Hayward’s injury.
“I think the biggest thing is they really care about Gordon,” Stevens added.
“He’s made a big impact on them. He’s an easy guy to play with. He’s a guy you want to play with on both ends of the floor.
“So certainly you miss that, and that camaraderie. But one of the tasks that we have now is to pick up steam for him and guys that get opportunities that may not have, or guys that get opportunities from a more minutes standpoint, need to be ready to take advantage of those.”