Nearly three months removed from a season-ending Achilles tear during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is beginning his road to recovery and no longer wearing a boot on his surgically repaired right ankle.
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens is not putting a timetable on Tatum’s return, but ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne recently said Boston’s franchise player is progressing nicely.
“There is a good update on Jayson Tatum – he’s walking again,” Shelburne said over the weekend on NBA Today. “He’s out of the boot and he’s walking again. He said he’s been doing six days a week in rehab, and I think he’s ahead of schedule coming back from that Achilles.”
According to various social media posts from Tatum’s workout routine, he has been rehabilitating the injury at UT-Chattanooga. Tatum isn’t the only starter who underwent surgery early this offseason after Jaylen Brown went through an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee. He’s been back at Boston’s practice facility working out since June and will continue his starring role next season, especially without Tatum in the lineup.
“I think Jaylen Brown relishes moments like this,” Shelburne said. “He tried to play through that injury all throughout the playoffs, and I think he’ll relish being the ‘1A’ here.”
When Tatum went down against the New York Knicks, he had 42 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks on 16 of 28 from the field, continuing his red-hot stretch in the playoffs.
Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and six assists per game last season and made an All-Star appearance for the sixth consecutive year. The former first-round pick out of Duke is a four-time All-NBA First Team selection and signed a record-setting $314 million extension last summer.
Asked in July if Tatum’s injury forced the front office’s hand with various trades to try and cut costs ahead of the 2025-26 season, Stevens balked at the notion.
“The reality is that we knew going into this year, regardless of how it ended, that we were going to have some really hard decisions to make because of the penalties,” Stevens said.
Boston has already traded Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday and is not expected to re-sign free agent center Al Horford.
