{"id":174988,"date":"2026-01-30T09:57:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T14:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=174988"},"modified":"2026-01-30T09:57:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T14:57:31","slug":"celtics-jayson-tatum-drops-hints-nba-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/30\/celtics-jayson-tatum-drops-hints-nba-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtics’ Core Player Drops Hints About NBA Comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jayson Tatum<\/a>‘s injury could not have happened at a worse possible time. The six-time All-Star tore his right Achilles tendon<\/a> in May, right in the middle of the Boston Celtics’ bid to repeat as champions. He’s\u00a0been sidelined ever since.<\/p>\n

Celtics’ Jayson Tatum Drops Hints About NBA Comeback<\/h2>\n

Tatum’s recovery has been swift<\/a>, exceeding the expectations of many fans. In fact, recent reports suggest<\/a> that Tatum may be ready to return to the court roughly eight months after his injury.<\/p>\n

‘I Felt Betrayed By The Game’<\/h3>\n

Making a recent appearance on The Pivot Podcast<\/em> with co-hosts Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor, <\/span>Tatum discussed\u00a0his mindset facing injury and subsequent recovery<\/a>\u00a0 with the NFL alumni. When asked by Crowder whether<\/span>\u00a0he <\/span>could \u201cturn the switch off\u201d mentally when it came to being around basketball as a whole after his injury, the 27-year-old replied:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was done with basketball when I got hurt. I felt betrayed by the game. Like I was never one of those guys that never cheated the game, never took it for granted\u2026it just didn\u2019t feel fair that happened to me. Like I really felt betrayed and I needed some time away from the game.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tatum then reflected on the motivation he got from Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant<\/a>, who also tore his Achilles tendon<\/a> in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKD is a big reason why like the narrative [around a torn Achilles] has changed. He was older than me when he did it and he still returned to being exactly who he is and he is somebody that I\u2019m super close with and have talked to. But just the way he went about it and the way he came back, really changed the narrative around that injury and gave people like myself hope that you can come back and be yourself or be better.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tatum’s Return?<\/h3>\n

Tatum is still considering sitting out<\/a> the rest of the 2025-26 season, according to NBA TV insider Chris Haynes. However, a final decision has not been reached. The Celtics star\u00a0“wants to get it right the first time<\/a>, so it’s just a lot to think about,” he tells\u00a0ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

All but confirming the belief that he’s ahead of schedule, Tatum says that he has made good progress towards the path to recovery during rehabilitation. He adds that he has felt stronger with each passing week<\/a>. Indeed, last week he went through a full-length workout<\/a> (with reporters present) in Detroit. Furthermore, he’s been increasing his workload lately. This has all led to speculation that he may be preparing for a late-season entrance into Boston’s lineup.<\/p>\n

Addressing the potential of him making a late-season comeback to the Celtics, Tatum responds:<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something I contemplate every day. More so about the team, if or when I do come back this season, they would have played 50 some odd games without me so they have an identity this year or things they\u2019ve felt that has clicked for them and it\u2019s been successful\u2026so there\u2019s a thought in my head that is like, how does that work? How does that look with me integrating myself off an injury\u2026and it is a thought like \u2018damn, do I come back or should I wait?\u2019 In the last two weeks or so, I contemplate every single day.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As the playoffs draw closer, the Celtics will need more firepower to make real noise in the postseason. Nonetheless, Tatum’s concerns –about both his health and the team’s current identity –are valid. All fans can do, much like his teammates, is wait and see what the franchise cornerstone’s decision will be.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a9 Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jayson Tatum‘s injury could not have happened at a worse possible time. The six-time All-Star tore his right Achilles tendon in May, right in the middle of the Boston Celtics’ bid to repeat as champions. He’s\u00a0been sidelined ever since. Celtics’ Jayson Tatum Drops Hints About NBA Comeback Tatum’s recovery has been swift, exceeding the expectations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5724,"featured_media":175236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1608,62,3],"tags":[798,4745],"class_list":["post-174988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celtics","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-jayson-tatum","tag-nba-injuries"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5724"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174988"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175237,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174988\/revisions\/175237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}