Gordon Hayward’s other athletic love prompted a touching moment Sunday.
The injured Boston Celtics star joined Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios at the Miami Open to meet with nine members of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School boys’ and girls’ tennis teams.
Kyrgios invited the group to train with him after winning his Miami Open match Saturday night, according to the Miami Herald. He hit balls with them Sunday afternoon on a practice court, where Hayward joined to meet the high schoolers and pose for a photo.
MS Douglas was the site of a horrific mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14 that left 17 students and teachers dead.
Kyrgios, who also outfitted the students with new Nike clothes and sneakers and ordered Beats headphones for them, admitted he’s a die-hard Celtics fan and was “a bit starstruck” when Hayward arrived.
Hayward was an accomplished tennis player in high school and considered playing the sport in college before deciding to focus on basketball. He clearly still enjoys his second sport, though, and used his time away from the Celtics to bring temporary joy to the MS Douglas squad.
