« Reply #9 on: December 11, 2017, 09:24:21 AM »
So in addition to the grueling rehab work, they installed unique challenges, with scoring systems and time records and winners. Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens have taken part, money has exchanged hands, and Hayward has relished it.
In one of the competitions, “multiple marble madness,” 17 marbles are placed on a small towel and Hayward must pick them up with his toes and deposit them in a box as quickly as possible. The first time he tried it with his injured left foot, it took him 4 minutes, 57 seconds. And he said he probably cheated, too. This week, he did it in 38 seconds.
“Little things like that,” Hayward said. “Like, I can tell I got better today because I shaved three seconds off my PR.”
Then there is the “Celtic chair challenge,” in which a competitor must make a half-court shot while seated. Entrants pay $1 per attempt, with a maximum of five shots per day. The jackpot accumulates until one goes in.
Ainge, Stevens, and Celtics Aron Baynes, Semi Ojeleye, and Guerschon Yabusele are among those who have entered. Hayward has enjoyed watching the missteps.
“I’ll just be like, ‘Thanks for the donation. Keep it moving,’ ” he said with a chuckle.
The jackpot has reached $80. Hayward, who is making $27.9 million this year, points out that he does not shoot for the jackpot when his teammates are on the road, because that would not be fair to them. Ainge, it should be noted, made the shot once with a baseball-style toss.
“But put it on the record that I’m definitely the best from half-court,” Hayward said.
I love this. Everything I read about his rehab makes me believe he's totally engaged with the process. Incorporating these competitions that keep him striving and involved with teammates is brilliant.
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