Jayson Tatum appears to be making excellent progress just four months removed from his Achilles tear.
The Boston Celtics are very pleased with how their star forward Tatum is recovering, Marc Bertrand and Scott Zolak of 98.5 The Sports Hub revealed on their show this week. Bertrand and Zolak recently went to dinner with Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who shared with them that Tatum has been working out at the team facility every single day for months this offseason.
“The Celtics are very happy with how hard Jayson Tatum has been working at his rehab, and his level of focus and intensity in the rehab process,” said Bertrand, per NBC Sports Boston.
“[Tatum] did not leave town. He has been here the entire time,” Bertrand added. “Since the injury, he has not left town, and he has been inside the building at the Celtics’ facility with their people and their team almost every single day for months.”
At 27 years old, the six-time All-Star Tatum suffered the Achilles rupture during Boston’s second-round playoff loss to the New York Knicks (see the video here). While Achilles tears are usually 10-12 month injuries, Tatum has the advantage of age as well as of a vigorous and focused rehab process from the looks of it.
We also heard early last month that Tatum might potentially be ahead of schedule in his recovery. Tatum himself recently spoke out too about how hard he was attacking his rehab.
Of course, none of this is a guarantee that Tatum plays at any point next season, especially if the Celtics (who dumped Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and other players this offseason) are not a competitive team. But it is starting to sound like a Tatum return late in the season might potentially be an option on the table for Boston if all of the cards fall the right way for them.
