Hornets Forward Out Indefinitely With Fracture

Let's face it, there are some players that just can't stay healthy. Perhaps no one epitomizes that truth more these days in the NBA than Charlotte Hornets forward Gordon Hayward. For five of the past six seasons, the 32-year-old simply hasn't been able to stay on the floor. He's now gone down with his second shoulder injury of the year, and is out indefinitely.

Sources: Charlotte’s Gordon Hayward will be sidelined indefinitely due to a fracture in his left shoulder. Hornets expect Hayward to miss time and he is undergoing further evaluations.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 26, 2022

Hayward has a fracture in his left shoulder and the Hornets say he'll be evaluated on a "week to week" basis, according to Insider Adrian Wojnarowski. 

The 6'7" forward missed eight games earlier in the season with a shoulder contusion and was back in the lineup for three games before suffering the fracture. He was averaging 16.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 11 games this season.

Ironically, for the first seven years of his career, with the Utah Jazz, Hayward was an iron man, playing no less than 88% of his team's games over that stretch. He missed only 42 games total in six full seasons. 

But since stepping on the court as a Boston Celtic in 2017, five minutes into his first game he suffered a gruesome ankle injury, and has been plagued by a series of issues ever since, averaging only 43 games a season since then. 

It's the last thing the Hornets need right now, as their whole roster has been ravaged by injuries all year. They sit at 6-14, 13th in the Eastern Conference.

Photo: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports