In the season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers, new Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward suffered one of the most gruesome injuries you'll ever see on a basketball court.The former Utah Jazz star went down hard, breaking his ankle only five minutes into his Boston debut and will now miss the rest of the season.However, that hasn't stopped Hayward from working hard in his rehab process as he tries to get himself back to full strength.As you can see in the photo below, shared by Boston general manager Danny Ainge, Hayward is already back in the gym, shooting hoops from a chair with a cast wrapped around his injured leg:

Boston fans will be happy to see Hayward back in the gym, but there's still a long recovery process he must go through before he can even think of getting actual jump shots up. Until the cast comes off - and then for a while after, probably - he'll be limited to shooting from the chair.

Hayward told ESPN.com that he's simply happy to be back on the court, even if it's only in a limited capacity:

"Shooting out of a chair is a little bit different than shooting standing up. It's pretty short," Hayward said. "But just to be out on the court with a basketball ... that was an incredible feeling, just to start that process. Just because, for two weeks or whatever, I was in a bed with my foot up the whole time. Those hours seem like they last forever because you're just sitting there and bored and can't do much.

"I do whatever I can with the basketball. That's what I love to do. That was fun. Looking forward to any chance to do that."

He added that he sometimes wonders why such a devastating injury happened to him, but said he's trying not to get caught up in self-pity as he watches his teammates succeed on the court without him:

"Daily, I still have negative thoughts. It's hard not to, especially when you watch the games," Hayward said. "It's something that I'm trying to work on. ... I think I wouldn't be human if I didn't have those thoughts.

"There are just definite positive things that I can take from this and there's definitely no reason to continue to sulk and wallow in some self-pity because it happened. You can't take it back, as much as I want to rewind it and go out the other way on the [play]. It's something that I'm going to have to deal with, so might as well deal with it now."

After starting the season 0-2, the Celtics have won eight-straight games and now have the best record in the NBA. Though Hayward won't be back this year, things are looking bright for Boston's future.