Jayson Tatum Opening Up About His Achilles Rehab Is Both Encouraging And Infuriating All At The Same Time

Elsa. Getty Images.

There's a case to be made that May 12th 2025 was a date that potentially could have changed the Celtics franchise forever. I know that sounds overly dramatic and whatnot, but at the same time it's true. I'm not just talking about losing that Game 4 to dall behind 3-1 to the Knicks in what ultimately was a 6 game series loss. Teams lose playoff series all the time. There's a reason no defending Champ has made it past the 2nd Round since the KD Warriors, and while that was annoying, shit happens.

I'm talking of course, about that one step taken by the franchise player. I almost don't even want to say it out loud because even 3 months after it happened, it still makes me sick. I'll be minding my own business doing random shit around my house and somehow my brain will replay that whole sequence and I find myself getting mad all over again. I'll be mindlessly scrolling my timeline and come across a Jayson Tatum edit and the depression will again take over my brain. The realization that we're about to experience an entire season without Jayson Tatum is something I'm not sure my mental state is ready to endure, considering it hasn't happened since 2016-17.

I imagine I'm not alone in that regard, as I would bet there are plenty of Celts fans who are going through the same shit. It all just still feels so unbelievable, yet here we are.

So you can imagine how I felt listening to Tatum talk about his rehab process, really for the first time since the injury

Live look at yours truly

Nothing like the realization that this is all in fact real life, and that this entire offseason hasn't just been a nightmare that we'll all collectively wake up from eventually. When you take a step back and look at the entire Celts' offseason, it's actually rather insane

I mean what the hell. We really are living out this scene all in the name of that 2024 title.

But back to the Tatum clip. The last part of what he said is what I want to focus on

"Now I gotta do everything in my power to get back to who I was"

That one statement right there, again not to be dramatic, is essentially the entire future of this franchise. It's honestly what makes this whole scenario so unique and why the stakes are extremely high. Players Tatum's age don't pop their Achilles. Someone in his physical condition, who essentially has never been injured in his career, doesn't pop their Achilles. Even the speed at which Tatum underwent surgery is unique, which is why there's so much optimism about how this might not be as career-altering an injury as we've seen with other players throughout NBA history. We can only hope.

It's also why this team needs to be smart when it comes to his recovery/return. I know he looks to be getting better by the day. I know there are reports that he's healing like Wolverine and may or may not be "ahead of schedule". That's all fine and good. I would argue that while some may look at this as an opportunity to return "early", I look at it as even more of a reason to hold him out for the full year. 

You can see by the video that mentally, Tatum looks to be in a great place. With this type of injury, that's always a big part of this recovery journey. The mental grind is just as brutal as the physical part. If the goal is to return as if this injury never happened, I simply do not think you can be too overly cautious. Forget the fact that there's no basketball reason to bring him back in a "gap year", if the Celts are going to pick right up where they left off, their only hope is that Tatum does get back to who he was. While it would be great if he comes back even better, I'll gladly take this current level, seeing as how that guy is a perennial 1st team All NBA player/Top 5 MVP candidate. We know that guy can backpack a team to a title, which is the requirement of a player in his specific role. 

My hope is that eventually, my brain will be able to move past this bullshit and not get depressed/upset about it randomly throughout the day or any time I see Tatum highlights come across my desk. It's been 3 months and we're still nowhere close to that happened, and I imagine once we see the product on the court this year things are only going to intensify, so I'm going to need time to fast forward to October 2026 already. 

Only 13 months to go!