Kobe Bryant offers motivation to Gordon Hayward after last night's horrific injury

Enter caption — Gordon Hayward suffered a dislocated ankle and fractured tibia minutes into his Boston debut...

What's the story?

Kobe Bryant took to Instagram the morning after Gordon Hayward suffered a terrible injury on his Boston Celtics debut. He would offer words of encouragement on his lengthy message to Hayward.

Take a look at his Instagram post below:

Be sad. Be mad. Be frustrated. Scream. Cry. Sulk. When you wake up you will think it was just a nightmare only to realize it’s all too real. You will be angry and wish for the day back, the game back THAT play back. But reality gives nothing back and nor should you. Time to move on and focus on doing everything in your power to prepare for surgery, ask all the questions to be sure you understand fully the procedure so that you may visualize it in your subconscious while being operated on and better the chance of it’s success. Then focus on the recovery process day by day by day. It’s a long journey but if you focus on the mini milestones along the way you will find beauty in the struggle of doing simple things that prior to this injury were taken for granted. This will also mean that when you return you will have a new perspective. You will be so appreciative of being able to stand, walk, run that you will train harder than you ever have. You see the belief within you grow with each mini milestone and you will come back a better player for it. Best of luck to you on this journey my brother #mambamentality always.

A post shared by Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) on Oct 18, 2017 at 8:38am PDT

In case you didn't know...

Just a few minutes into Hayward's Celtic debut, he collided with LeBron James and landed awkwardly. Team doctors diagnosed him with a dislocated ankle and fractured tibia.

The heart of the matter...

Kobe's message provided Hayward advice to get all the information he can get for the upcoming surgery so he is mentally prepared for what's to come.

Instead of focusing on the big picture of when and how Hayward can get back on the court, Kobe tells him to focus on the mini-milestones to help get him through what will be the toughest time of his life.

In the end, Kobe wished Hayward the best of luck on his journey and told him that he will come back a better player.

What's next?

Michael Wilbon from ESPN reports that Hayward will have surgery today, but Hayward's agent Mark Bartelstein stated that they will evaluate the next steps after Hayward has an MRI and CT scan on Wednesday morning. Stay tuned to Sportskeeda for any further updates on Hayward.

Author's take...

First and foremost, I'm a Boston Celtics fan, and this moment last night was gut-wrenching. Just seeing the shock on the players' faces on both teams and the hush in the arena was something I haven't witnessed in the NBA.

I loved Kobe's post. It was very real and offered great advice for Gordon going forward. The outpouring of support for Hayward from around the league is tremendous, and I cannot wait to see him on the court again.