Bones Hyland sat in front of a Clippers teammate’s locker late Friday and spoke to reporters for the first time in weeks, maybe months. It wasn’t some media boycott by the third-year point guard. He simply had nothing to discuss.
Until now.
“Bizzy’s back. Bizzy’s back,” Hyland said, using an alternate nickname. “It’s been a long time, but honestly I’m just ready to keep contributing to the team, build up these wins and carry this momentum into the thing that we all want to do.”
Hyland was referring to getting a spot back in coach Tyronn Lue’s rotation, a move necessitated by the injury to Russell Westbrook, who fractured his left hand attempting to steal the ball from Jordan Poole in the Clippers’ 140-115 victory over the Washington Wizards.
The team did not have a timeline for Westbrook’s return. In the meantime, Hyland is expected to fill his role coming off the bench starting with Sunday’s game at the Minnesota Timberwolves, who lead the Western Conference.
“First of all, it sucks for injury to happen to anybody. Nobody wants injuries,” Hyland said.
Hyland has not been in the rotation since the Clippers acquired 10-time All-Star and former league MVP James Harden in November, a blow considering he started the season a main piece in the lineup.
In the season’s first five games, Hyland averaged 26.2 minutes and 13.6 points per game. Then Harden came in and Hyland was pushed out of the conversation.
“Yeah, it’s been challenging, but I had to get through it,” Hyland said. “Everything always comes back around full circle to the ones who work hard and stay down.”
The one player who kept Hyland from getting too discouraged was Westbrook.
“Russ has been a great leader to me, man, since I came here, even before I got here,” Hyland said.
“He’s always been that guy I can go talk to. … In this whole process, he told me to stay down, stay hungry, keep stay in the gym, just keep being myself and it’ll come…
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