Salt Lake Tribune's Gordon Monson keeps ripping Gordon Hayward


Salt Lake Tribune writer, Gordon Monson, just can't let it go. It started when Gordon Hayward decided last off-season to go with the Boston Celtics in free agency. His written diatribes against Gordon appear to have been penned via colored cobra venom with his writing instrument constantly ripping through the paper out of sheer anger. Here is his latest:


But this has been going on since last summer. Monson has been re-emboldened (if there is such a word) by the current success of both rookie Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz generally. Here is sltr.com's Gordon Monson with his initial venom-spewing in July, 2017:

People talk about the draw of Brad Stevens at Boston, Hayward's college coach, but the player made more progress under Snyder than he did under Stevens. Snyder is every bit the coach that Stevens is. The fans of Utah are every bit the fans that Celtics fans are. As formerly constituted, the Jazz were every bit the talented young team that Boston was, probably better. The Jazz money was stacked higher than the Celtics money was, which should have spoken to Hayward, who once was about as frugal an individual as there was in the NBA.

Look, this was Hayward's decision. It was a personal decision. And Hayward made it personal, stumbling and bumbling around with it.

"Hayward made it personal"??? So apparently does Monson. "As frugal an individual as there was in the NBA"? Call Gordon cheap, which was your intent, Mr. Monson, but even though he is gone, no one was more cheap than Larry Bird. And Larry was proud of it. And the fans in Utah are every bit as good as Boston fans? I am admittedly biased, but no way that works.

And Quinn Snyder is a quality coach, no doubt. Look at what he has done. But Brad Stevens is Coach-of-the-Year this season, and I don't care what the voters have to say (unless he gets the award). Brad has done a super-human job of working successfully through the misfortune that you must spend long hours celebrating.

These are only bits and pieces from Monson's poison pen. Sensationalism in sports writing can be justified. Even occasional venom can be supported by a strong, intelligent argument. Your argument, Mr. Monson, is admittedly strong but is sorely missing the intelligence factor. There is little logic in your prose.



I have closely followed Hayward's recovery, and I am truly amazed by his strong will and tenacity. I have been wrongly underestimating his abilities since he came into the NBA, but you are now doing the same, Mr. Monson, out of sheer bitterness. There is no justifying that.

For our readers, there were more barbs in Monson's rant - such as "softies in the East" and Celtics "getting killed by Golden State", but I think you have heard enough. The game against Utah is Wednesday night, and it would be nice for Boston's severely-depleted corps to come away with a win. Either way, we have the better Gordon (Hayward).

I learned a few days ago that poisonous snakes need to inject only part of their venom so they can save some while replenishing what was lost. The well-hidden copperhead that I came close to stepping on recently was a baby, and they often inject all they have at once. So we await the lesser Gordon's (Monson) replenishment of poison for his next strike. As far as basketball fans, do Utah readers actually read and believe this crap?

Follow Tom at @TomLaneHC

Photo via Michael Conroy/Associated Press