Few understand the pain Jayson Tatum went through to return from his torn Achilles better than Klay Thompson.
The Boston Celtics star returned from the leg injury on Friday, fittingly against Thompson’s Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden in Boston, Mass. Over the first 20 minutes of action, Tatum indeed looked like someone who had not played on an NBA court in nearly 300 days.
Tatum missed his first six shots, including a botched dunk that would’ve brought the house down had it gone in. He shook off the rust to finish with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists in a 120-100 win for the Celtics.
Thompson, who led the Mavericks in scoring with 19 points off the bench, spoke to The Athletic’s Jared Weiss after the game about Tatum’s long road to recovery.
“I know what that’s like,” Thompson said. “It’s not fun watching your teammates compete without you, especially a caliber player like Jayson, one of the best players in the world. You know what you’re capable of, you know how much you can help. So that’s the worst feeling, feeling like a prisoner in your own body.”
Thompson added that he was “very happy” to witness Tatum work his way back to full health.
When Thompson talks about “feeling like a prisoner in your own body,” he’s clearly speaking from experience. Thompson is five years removed from missing two full seasons due to back-to-back serious leg injuries.
The former Golden State Warriors star was sidelined for the entire 2019-20 season due to the torn ACL he suffered during the 2019 NBA Finals. He then missed the following season after he sustained a torn Achilles during a pickup game.
Those injuries marked the beginning of the end for Thompson, who still put up numbers in his return but was clearly not the player he once was pre-injury. His declining play eventually led to his messy exit from the Warriors.
