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Gordon Hayward has always been told the summers in Salt Lake City are eventful. For the first time in his career, he took advantage of it.

He and his growing family (Hayward and his wife, Robyn, welcomed a second daughter in the offseason) stayed local in the summer months, instead of going home to Indiana. Hayward called his workout regimen a "one-stop shop," with the chance to train, lift weights and work on his game with the Utah Jazz coaching staff, as well as exploring the state in their downtime.

Along the way, he never surrendered his obsession with video gaming. In fact, his love grew deeper.

"Spending the summer in Salt Lake definitely didn't disappoint," Hayward said. "It worked out really well. I think it's been the best offseason of my career."

On Tuesday night, Hayward put his gaming skills to the test again, but did so with a twist. In an event with HyperX, a gaming company that sponsors Hayward, Utah's star small forward played with fans at the Microsoft store in the City Creek Mall.

The line was extensive to enter the two hour event with Hayward. In the video gaming world, a vast network, Hayward's always been well known. And Tuesday night, Hayward was able to rub elbows, play with the fans, sign autographs and take pictures.

"He's Gordon Hayward, everyone knows him from basketball, but we all know that he loves to play as well," said Ray Fung, 26, who drove to Salt Lake from Provo to take part. "For him to do this for the fans, that's pretty awesome. We definitely appreciate that he's doing something like this."

Hayward's event on Tuesday night checked a few boxes. Gaming is one of his favorite endeavors. Adrenaline pumping, he frequently plays for a few hours after games, in order to calm down and go to sleep.

He's always loved Halo, and lists that as his favorite game ever. But he's become an expert at League of Legends, and has even blogged about it. He's a big "FIFA" fan, and plays the popular soccer game faithfully with his Jazz teammates.

So his ability to play, plus the chance to be active in the community, was important, especially with the season approaching fast.

"It's awesome, being able to hold an event like this," Hayward said. "You definitely don't have as much time to do something like this when the season starts. I always thought I could play video games for a living. So to be able to do something like this, it's really a lot of fun."

tjones@sltrib.com twitter: @tjonessltrib —

Gordon Hayward file

• Hayward is entering his seventh season, all with the Utah Jazz

• The Jazz begin training camp next week

• Hayward partnered with HyperX for Tuesday night's gaming event