You Drew Stars Around The Scar -- And Now The Scar Is The Story

I think I’ve seen this film before

When a franchise player goes down, the world stops. For the Boston Celtics, it happened in May 2025 during the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Jayson Tatum, who some might say is the face of the league, tore his right achilles against his Eastern rival, the New York Knicks. 

The centerpiece of the franchise, the leading scorer, and team leader was suddenly out for the season. Luckily, the Celtics were able to get one win without him before being eliminated from the NBA playoffs. The future was suddenly unknown.

Soon you’ll get better…

Tatum was able to undergo surgery almost immediately. The injury occurring in New York helped in several ways. The league's best surgeon located there was able to perform the surgery within 24 hours. This is the rarest case, but the best scenario for a smoother road to recovery.

 After surgery, once the inflammation decreased, mobility and strength exercises were introduced to help prevent muscle loss. As weeks went by, Tatum added core strength work, lower-body stability, and controlled movement drills to maintain his strength to the best of his ability. The trainers had to continuously tell him, “we are not working on Sundays and neither are you.” He never wanted to stop training.

This is me trying…

Five months post-op, around the time of the beginning of NBA season, Tatum posted a video of himself dunking. This one video truly shocked the world. 

For an injury that typically requires a 12 month minimum of recovery, no one expected this would happen so soon. Everyone knew he was ahead of schedule, especially since he had surgery so quickly and given his young age and lack of injuries. But 150 days after surgery was something no one had seen before. 

Once the video was posted, it became clear that Tatum was able to participate in on-court workouts. It was time to start re-establishing rhythm and confidence while seeing how his body would respond to playing basketball again. 

Long live the walls we crashed through

The city of Boston assumed this year would be looked at as a rebuild. After winning the NBA Finals in 2024, the Celtics lost four of their rotational players including two starters.

The bench, G league, as well as rookie Hugo Gonzalez, were going to have to take over the starting roles. Once they were finally under the first apron at the trade deadline, they had the players they were officially rocking with for the rest of the season. 

With a rotating starting five, losing many key players, and Anfernee Simons being traded for salary cap purposes, the Celtics find themselves sitting at 2nd in the East, just five games behind the Pistons. 

…ready for the return?

Tatum has attended every game in every city this season with his son Deuce by his side. He wanted his presence to continue to be felt and be the leader he is on and off the court.

Nine months post-op, Tatum was assigned to the Maine Celtics, the Boston’s G League affiliate, for 5 on 5 drills and scrimmages. The athletic trainers tracked his workload and recovery time to see if he was close to returning to the court. 

After a month between Maine and Boston practices, Tatum was officially cleared on March 5 to return to NBA games. Tatum had said he wouldn’t return unless he was able to be a key contributor and role player. Whether he only plays 15 minutes a night or as a starter, he will make his presence known. 

With 18 games left of the regular season, Tatum returns with hopes to make a run in the NBA playoffs. After one of the fastest recoveries in sports history, the Celtics are ready. Don’t sleep on him for your fantasy basketball playoffs, as we wait patiently to hear “And from Duke, number 0, Jayson Tatum!”