Signed
COMPLETED
Gordon Hayward
One collector is trying to find a single signature from every man who ever played for the Jazz — all 370 of them, from the 1974 New Orleans team to today. For many of them, this page is the only one on the internet. Here is Gordon Hayward: what he did on the floor, a few things most people never knew, and every card that carries his name. If you have a better example of his signature, or a story about it, the note at the foot of this page still stands.
The half-court heave that nearly beat Duke in the 2010 NCAA final made Gordon Hayward famous, and the Jazz took the Butler sophomore ninth overall that June. Over seven Utah seasons he grew from Jerry Sloan's cautious rookie into the team's leading man, earning an All-Star selection in 2017 — then signed with Boston that summer, only to fracture his tibia and dislocate his ankle five minutes into his first game.
A two-time all-state tennis player before a late growth spurt, Hayward won an Indiana state title at Brownsburg on his own buzzer-beater. He played 14 NBA seasons in all, closing with Charlotte and Oklahoma City.
HOW HE CAME & WENTUtah took him ninth overall in 2010, a pick that surprised even him, and matched Charlotte's maximum offer sheet in 2014 to keep him. In 2017 he left for Boston on a four-year, $127.8 million deal, reuniting with his Butler coach Brad Stevens — his agent said the decision broke his heart.
- Full name
- Gordon Daniel Hayward
- Utah Jazz tenure
- 2010–17
- Position
- Forward
- Born
- 1990, Indianapolis
- Height
- 6′7″ (201 cm)
- Weight
- 225 lb (102 kg)
- College
- Butler
- Drafted
- 2010, 1st round (No. 9), Utah
With the Jazz
GORDON HAYWARD · 2010–17 · PER GAME| SEASON | TEAM | G | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | UTA | 72 | 16.9 | 5.4 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.3 | .485 | .473 | .711 |
| 2011–12 | UTA | 66 | 30.5 | 11.8 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 0.6 | .456 | .346 | .832 |
| 2012–13 | UTA | 72 | 29.2 | 14.1 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | .435 | .415 | .827 |
| 2013–14 | UTA | 77 | 36.4 | 16.2 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 1.4 | 0.5 | .413 | .304 | .816 |
| 2014–15 | UTA | 76 | 34.4 | 19.3 | 4.9 | 4.1 | 1.4 | 0.4 | .445 | .364 | .812 |
| 2015–16 | UTA | 80 | 36.2 | 19.7 | 5.0 | 3.7 | 1.2 | 0.3 | .433 | .349 | .824 |
| 2016–17 | UTA | 73 | 34.5 | 21.9 | 5.4 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 0.3 | .471 | .398 | .844 |
| JAZZ TOTAL | 7 SEASONS | 516 | 31.3 | 15.7 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 0.4 | .444 | .368 | .820 |
Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗ · Wikipedia ↗
Did you know
GORDON HAYWARD · 8 NOTES- Was a nationally ranked junior tennis player before committing to basketball.
- A genuinely serious esports player — ranked in League of Legends and wrote about gaming for The Players' Tribune.
- Announced his departure in a Players' Tribune letter published on the Fourth of July, 2017 — a date Jazz fans have not forgotten.
- Stood just 5 foot 11 as a high school freshman before an eight-inch growth spurt changed everything.
- In Game 3 against the Clippers in 2017 he scored 40 points, including a franchise playoff record 21 in a single quarter.
- He skipped AAU basketball one summer to chase a state tennis title, and Brad Stevens once scouted him at a tennis match instead.
- His company, Whiskey Creek Productions, released its first feature film in 2023, and he spent time at Skywalker Ranch during post-production.
- A chess player since childhood games against his mother, he took the game up again and became a Chess.com streaming partner.
All photographs
1 PHOTO