Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said that forward Gordon Hayward has taken the next step in his recovery after needing a late May procedure to remove hardware from his surgically repaired left ankle. Hayward and his family left Boston this weekend to spend time at their home in San Diego.
“Before he left, he was running out on the basketball court,” Ainge said. “He was back to resuming basketball activities. It feels great.”
Hayward broke his left ankle in the first quarter of the season-opening loss to the Cavaliers on Oct. 17 and missed the entire season. His recovery, by all accounts, was going well until he began to experience some pain on the outside of the ankle this spring. In late May he underwent a procedure to remove a plate and screws that had been inserted as part of the initial procedure.
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Hayward said in a blog post last week that he hopes to be back playing in five-on-five games by the end of this month.
“Once I get started, I’ll be jogging, then running, and then cutting and moving, and all that could happen within one to two weeks of each other, to where by the end of July I am playing full court, five-on-five basketball,” he wrote. “And that’s probably the most exciting thing I could tell all of you.”
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.