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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2018/03/09/gordon-hayward-on-return-this-season-for-boston-celtics-the-hope-is-still-there/\nGordon Hayward on return this season for Boston Celtics: ‘The hope is still there’\nGordon Hayward is not ruling himself out for the season, but he is just continuing to focus on the daily rehab without an end-goal in mind: “The hope is still there.”\nIn an appearance at a Roxbury youth basketball event, Gordon Hayward made it clear he if not going ot rule himself out for the season. In fact, the Boston Celtics star isn’t even worrying about when he returns to the floor. It’s all about the process.\n“My thoughts are that I take it day-by-day. I said that from the very beginning that’s what I would do,” Hayward told reporters, via ESPN’s Chris Forsberg. “I’m not putting a timetable on it and the recovery is going well. I’m progressing well. I was in the facility this morning and will be in the facility tomorrow and that’s kind of my goal. Really just focusing day-by-day.”\nHayward won’t say he is out for the year, even though everyone else around him is saying it’s not going to happen. That’s just part of competitive nature, but it’s clear he isn’t trying to rush his rehab or skip steps to get there.\n“The hope is still there,” he said. “It’s something where I’m really honestly not even thinking about it. I know we’re getting towards the end of the year. It’s something I’m still working for, but if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.\n“[I] haven’t thought about it. Just continuing to think like, ‘What am I going to do today that will be better.’”\nHe gets asked about it every time he sees a camera. Well actually, every time he sees another human being.\n“Thousands of times,” Hayward said when asked how often he is asked when he is going to return. “Every single time I go out, people ask, ‘How’s my ankle, when am I getting back.’ So I hear it all the time.”\nHayward is nearing the end of the assisted running phase of his rehab. He started with calf raises on the AlterG treadmill, which creates a vacuum chamber on the lower body to reduce body weight and ease stress on the legs from exercise.\n“Progression is going really well. Working my way up on the AlterG and working my way towards running and then ultimately jumping and continuing the process.\n“I did 70% today. I think once you get to 80%, you’re off the AlterG and sort of progress to running. So I’m almost off of it.”\nHe said the next goal is to get off the AlterG when he hits that 80% mark and then get used to running under his full body weight. That will likely be a long adjustment period. But the real challenge has been managing the psychological hurdles of such a major rehab.\n“Mentally is the biggest challenge out of all of it,” Hayward said. “I’ve been blessed to have the Celtics provide such a great training staff. I’ve had my trainer from Indianapolis come and be with me this whole time as well and I’m blessed to have a family to get me through it. I have a wife and two little ones. Going home to them helps me get through it.”\nWith a strong support system and a prudent long view on his recovery timetable, Hayward has been able to do his rehab without external pressure. But it’s been clear that he already puts all the pressure in the world on himself anyway.\nIt looks like he will make a full bounce back to the elite player the Celtics signed last offseason. It’ll just take a lot of patience, even if it means missing what could be a promising playoff run.\nHere is Hayward’s interview, via ESPN’s Chris Forsberg:\nGordon Hayward if he still has hope to play this year: “The hope is still there. It’s something where I’m really honestly not even thinking about it.” pic.twitter.com/L6g7bV5DUy\n— Chris Forsberg (@ESPNForsberg) March 9, 2018"