Back in 2017, the Miami Heat were among the teams who attracted Gordon Hayward. However, the now-retired star chose the Boston Celtics then. Hayward explained on “The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz” why he chose the Celtics over the Heat.

“Well, you know, it was reuniting with Brad [Stevens],” Hayward said. “Brad was one that sold it, you know, it’s hard to compete with, you know, somebody that I played under at Butler and had a huge, huge impact on my life, you know, not just as a player but also a person so, you know, it was that was kind of the key thing was being able to go play for him again.”

At the time, Stevens was the Celtics’ head coach. Stevens and Hayward had both experience and success together with Butler. They went all the way to the 2010 NCAA Finals, where Hayward almost made one of the most miraculous buzzer-beaters in college basketball history

They did not replicate the same success in Boston, though that was because Hayward suffered a freak injury only a few minutes into his Celtics tenure.

Gordon Hayward Wanted to Go to Miami

Though Hayward joined Boston, he admitted that at one point, he had his mind made up about joining the Heat.

“That was a super tough decision,” Hayward told Le Batard. “I basically visited three teams, I started with Miami, then did Boston, then finished with Utah, meeting with all those teams. I remember vividly telling my agent after each meeting, like I started with Miami, and I’m like, ‘I want to go to Miami. We don’t even need to do the other meetings.’ Miami is the place I want to be, and he kind of was like, ‘Well, we got to hear everyone out.’”

He praised Miami as an organization while also explaining why Miami appealed to him as a city.

“The Heat have always been a first-class organization, so I was really, really close to signing there,” Hayward continued. “I feel like Spoelstra is one of the best coaches in the league, and obviously, Pat Riley is legendary in his own right. I was very close. Also, my brother-in-law lives in Miami. My wife would have loved living there and the beach and everything, but ultimately decided to go to Boston.”

Gordon Hayward’s a Big ‘What-if’ for Miami

Hayward choosing Boston over Miami certainly created a domino effect for the Heat. His signing there may or may not have gotten in the way of them signing Jimmy Butler, who signed two years later. Or the two could have teamed up to make Miami all the better as a team.

Signing with Miami may have also prevented him from suffering that career-altering injury. He made the All-Star team in 2017 at 27 years old, meaning he should have maintained playing at that level for some time. Breaking his leg and dislocating his ankle in one fell swoop changed all of that.

Knowing the Heat made the NBA Finals twice since 2017 certainly makes one think about where they would be if Hayward had chosen them. Would they have gone more, and if so, would they have another title?