Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum seemed to marked off another month in his lengthy recovery from a ruptured Achilles.
The five-time All-NBA honoree left some room for interpretation when he posted “5 months” with a green check emoji on Tuesday:
More than four months have passed since Tatum went down in the second round of the 2025 NBA playoffs.
From the moment the severity of the injury became clear, most assumed the Celtics would be without their best player for the entire 2025-26 season. Boston’s front office basically operated that way by steadily lowering payroll and parting ways with some key players from the 2024 championship squad.
Tatum nonetheless got fans excited last week when he said he was back to working out on the court already.
Everyone should temper their expectations for when the 27-year-old will actually get the green light to play again. He said Monday during the Celtics’ media day there’s “no pressure” for him to accelerate the rehab process.
“No pressure,” Tatum told reporters. “No pressure to return back any sooner than when I’m 100 percent healthy. No pressure from [Celtics president of basketball operations] Brad [Stevens], [coach] Joe [Mazzulla], the team, the organization. The most important thing is that I’m 100 percent recovered and healthy whenever I do come back.”
The Houston Rockets’ Kevin Durant and New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart showed that a player can return to an elite level after a major Achilles injury. Tatum could have a lot of good years left in his career.
Still, the situation is too delicate for him to risk coming back before he’s physically ready.
