NBA players try to court free agent Gordon Hayward with emojis

July 3 (UPI) -- Welcome to 2017, the year NBA players are using emojis to recruit free agent forward Gordon Hayward.

Hayward's Utah Jazz teammate Rudy Gobert began the effort Saturday night, tweeting photos of a palm tree, wastebasket, clover, poop, a saxophone and a trophy.

The images referenced the Miami Heat being garbage, the Boston Celtics being excrement and the Jazz winning a trophy.

Less than 2 minutes later, Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas joined the fun. He tweeted a palm tree emoji and three trophies, representing Miami's three NBA championships. He also posted a clover emoji, along with 17 trophies, representing Boston's titles. His saxophone emoji had no trophies, like the Jazz.

Then came Heat center Hassan Whiteside. Miami's big man is known for his Snapchat account, but he didn't slack in the emoji game. Whiteside's emojis included the date range 2000 to 2017 and had a clover emoji with one ring, a palm tree with three rings and a saxophone with no rings. Whiteside also used his Snapchat account to recruit Hayward.

Hayward, 27, posted a career-high 21.9 points per game this season. He also had 5.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per contest in 73 games for the Jazz. The 2016 All-Star was the No. 9 overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft and has played his entire career in Utah.

He met with the Heat Saturday, according to the Miami Herald. The Heat told the Herald that the meeting went "very well." He met Sunday with the Celtics and is expected to choose a new team by Tuesday or Wednesday, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Hayward will meet Monday with the Jazz in San Diego, according to the Deseret News.