Gordon Hayward refutes claim that he wanted to allow Kobe Bryant to score 60 points
One rumor that was going around yesterday was that during Kobe Bryant's final basketball game, Gordon Hayward purposely caused a lane violation to assure that Kobe Bryant would finish with 60 points in his final game of his career. As gracious as that would have been, Hayward to his credit refuted that account late yesterday in a series of tweets:
The past day has been incredibly heartbreaking for me. Kobe is someone that I looked up to and admired and developed a personal relationship with. I have struggled so much with trying to understand the devastating news and like many others I’m still trying to process it.
— Gordon Hayward (@gordonhayward) January 28, 2020
That was a night that I will truly never forget as I can remember almost every moment of it and my goal that night was to compete as hard as I possibly could against Kobe because that is what he was all about and I wanted to give him my very best.
— Gordon Hayward (@gordonhayward) January 28, 2020
Rest In Peace Kobe. I’m so honored to have shared our time on and off the court together!— Gordon Hayward (@gordonhayward) January 28, 2020
Kobe Bryant was not the type of player that wanted someone to give him 60 points. Credit to Hayward for clearing this up.