Jayson Tatum’s recovery from his torn Achilles is going to be a major point throughout the entire 2025-26 season. Boston Celtics fans will analyze every photo, video, and interview in hopes of finding any evidence that the star forward is inching towards a return to action.
It’s just how these things go.
We all remember watching Gordon Hayward run for the first time after breaking his leg back in 2018. Fans are going to take anything and run with it.
You can imagine the jubilation when Tatum did a media tour last month, swatting away the notions that he’d miss the entire season at any opportunity he got. Days later, he released footage of his first on-court workout since the injury.
What a week it was for overreactions.
Jayson Tatum probably won't be back this season
Celtics alternate governor and CEO Wyc Grousbeck did what he could to pour some water on the fire on Wednesday morning.
Grousbeck shared that the Celtics are “assuming he’s not coming back” in the upcoming campaign, during an appearance on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show.
"We're not going to ever ask him to come back,” Grousbeck explained. “We're assuming he's not coming back, and we're not even going to have any discussions about it. At some point, he's going to be ready to come back. Whenever that is, we'll get five doctors' opinions, we'll ask him how he feels, and then we'll all decide jointly -- let's do this, whatever month that is, whenever that is. But there are no discussions in the meantime. He's expected to not be here this season."
Wyc Grousbeck on @TheGregHillShow discussing Jayson Tatum and a potential return:
— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) October 22, 2025
"We're not going to ever ask him to come back. We're assuming he's not coming back, and we're not even going to have any discussions about it. At some point, he's going to be ready to come back.… pic.twitter.com/t86imyvZzF
Grousbeck’s insight contradicts the reporting of ESPN’s Shams Charania, who, earlier this month, called the Celtics “cautiously optimistic” that Tatum could return this season.
“The Celtics have not ruled him out,” Charania explained during an Oct. 9 appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “I think the Celtics are cautiously optimistic. Clearly, Jayson Tatum has a goal in his mind that he wants to play. Now, whether he can get there by the time we’re in February, March, and April, we’ll see.”
Ultimately, whether or not the Cs believe Tatum has a shot to be back this season shouldn’t be public knowledge at this point. There’s no benefit to putting that expectation out there. All it does it put more pressure on Tatum as he recovers from the serious ailment, and leaves the door open for fans to become frustrated if the expectation isn’t met -- fair or not.
Tatum will be back. It’s just too early to tell when that’ll be. The only thing that should be certain is that he’ll be 110% recovered and ready to go before stepping foot back onto an NBA court.