The Boston Celtics have been without Jayson Tatum for the first 25 games of their season, as the star forward recovers from the torn Achilles tendon he suffered during last spring’s playoffs. When something so catastrophic happens, there are endless questions; “Is he okay? Will he fully recover? When is he going to be back?”
That last one keeps getting asked more and more as the days go on. Tatum keeps rehabbing, sharing videos of his progress, and pushing the limits of modern medicine.
Every time there’s a new update, fans get excited and begin theorizing on a possible return date.
Jayson Tatum is still "several steps" away from a return
It doesn’t hurt that the Celtics have played some awesome basketball over the past several weeks, and look like they’ll be in the mix, regardless of whether he’s able to make his way onto the court this season.
If he were to come back, Boston would be a dangerous opponent for just about anyone come playoff time. How can you not get excited about that?
As a matter of fact, Tatum sounds like he’s just chomping at the bit to try and get back to hooping. According to The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach, the Celtics star hasn’t made his goals a secret.
“Within the organization [Tatum] continues to indicate that he would like to return this season. It probably falls somewhere between possible and likely...but a league source stressed that the team remains several steps away from even considering the decision.”
The last part of Himmelsbach’s intel on Tatum’s progress is important. Boston’s medical staff still seems to be quite a distance from clearing the 27-year-old to return to action. This update is a bit of a reality check for Celtics fans who have started gearing up for Tatum's eventual return.
He's making good progress, but clearly has plenty of work to do before he's back to 100%.
This season is far from over, though.
April is still several months away, allowing JT plenty of time to clear all of the boxes needed to ensure he’s fully recovered from the Achilles tear. Full recovery still remains the top priority. As great as it would be to add Tatum to this already buzzing Celtics squad, the organization and Tatum both know that long-term health shouldn’t be sacrificed in favor of trying to climb the mountain this season.
At the very least, there’s more optimism that both outcomes are possible now than there was heading into the campaign.
"It's all up to him," said Joe Mazzulla at Wednesday’s media availability. "At the end of the day, his health is the most important thing. His process is the most important thing. You trust him, trust the team that's around him -- he's got a great team -- and you just kind of go from there. So, kind of just all starts about where he and his team think he's at."