Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles on May 12. Typically, stars who suffer such an injury don't play the following season while they recover. However, the Boston Celtics have not technically ruled Tatum out for the 2025-26 season. In fact, Heavy's Steve Bulpett reported from a scout who saw Tatum at Chris Paul's camp that Tatum did not look limited on Thursday.
“He was moving really well,” the scout told Bulpett. “There might have been a slight limp or something, but the surprising thing to me is that he didn’t have a boot for any of it.
“I’m no doctor, but I’ve seen guys coming back from Achilles’ tears, and he looked way ahead. I was kind of shocked to see how well he was moving. I have no idea for what any of this means for when he can come back. I’m sure him and the Celtics’ medical people have their program set up, and they’ll make sure that he’s where he needs to be when he does get back. But he looks great right now. Of course, he didn’t do any running or even jogging, but he was in great shape and he had no trouble doing his part at the camp.”
Even though Tatum technically has not been ruled out, there's no timetable for when he will return. Whether he returns for this coming season or not, it certainly will not be right away.
Achilles tears take a while to recover from and have also made players more susceptible to other injuries and/or badly affected their performance when they come back from them. Among the very few exceptions to this has been Kevin Durant, who didn't play for about a year and a half after he suffered the injury.
Because of what Achilles tears can do to the players who suffer them, Celtics fans begged Tatum to take the year off in response to Bulpett's report.
"Please do not rush it man," one fan begged.
"Even if he’s 100% don’t bring him back this season whatever position you’re in," another suggested.
"He should rest, and we'll be back to being contenders the year after," another assured.
"Recover 100% and comeback stronger. No need to force return. This season is lost for Celtics, it is what it is," another declared.
Another fan mentioned what happened when Tatum's idol, Kobe Bryant, came back from his Achilles tear.
"Kobe did come back in less than 8 months...wasn't smart though," the fan stated.
This is Tatum's first long-term injury in his NBA career. His return will depend on how he and the Celtics' medical staff handle his recovery.
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