Former Boston Celtics big man Blake Griffin recently spoke with Daniel Donabedian of ClutchPoints about Jayson Tatum’s recovery. Tatum ruptured his Achilles in May, during the Celtics’ second-round series against the New York Knicks, and is supposedly working toward a return—a feat he wants to complete this season.
However, Griffin, who has plenty of experience dealing with injuries, poured some cold water on that plan. In his eyes, Boston should act with an abundance of caution because if there is even a small chance that Tatum could reinjure himself, he shouldn’t be anywhere near NBA action. His long-term health should be the top priority.
That said, everything will be up to Tatum and his team.
Blake Griffin shared caution regarding Jayson Tatum's potential return
Griffin’s synopsis of the situation is that, though players can return within 10 months or so, the longer an Achilles has time to heal, the better it’s structure remains.
“There's a lot of information on Achilles and all other sorts of injuries, but especially Achilles injuries, where, the longer you wait — like, yes, you may be able to play within, call it 10 months,” he told Donabedian. “But does 16 months give you a much better chance at not re-injuring and not injuring something else? And I think the data on that is very clear. As good, as much fun as the Celtics are to watch this season, as good as they've been, I don't know that if I was advising him — I don't know that I would be like, ‘Yeah, you got to get back this year.'”
In the quote, Griffin never directly said whether or not he believes Tatum should return this season. He also noted that his belief is that the Celtics shouldn’t be pushing Tatum to return. And by all accounts, they aren’t.
Joe Mazzulla recently said that the decision will be left completely to Tatum, his team, and the higher-ups in the organization. He made it very clear that he will play no part in that choice.
And though Griffin left his response vague, the apparent tone of the message sends a clear signal—everything the Celtics (and Tatum) do should be with the superstar’s long-term health in mind.
Based on everything coming out of Celtics camp, that’s going to be the team’s priority. They want to make sure Tatum is healthy for years to come.
Tatum looks like he’s progressing very well, but videos on social media can only paint so much of the picture. Only time will tell when (and how well) Tatum will return to action for the Celtics.