“I haven’t said I’m not playing this season”: Jayson Tatum hints at early return from Achilles injury

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is hopeful to return in the upcoming NBA 2024-2025 season after suffering from an Achilles tear last season in a playoff game against the New York Knicks.

With Achilles tears usually having a recovery time of 7 to 18 months, Tatum isn’t ruling out the possibility of returning during the season and helping the Celtics capture another championship, but states that recovering fully is still of utmost importance.

“I haven’t said I’m not playing this season. The most important thing is a full recovery, not rushing,” he said on ESPN’s First Take.

“But also, I don’t go to rehab six days a week for nothing,” Tatum added.

The Celtics dealt veteran Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in the offseason to shave off salary before the season, and will have to depend on Tatum’s co-star Jaylen Brown, newly-acquired Anferne Simons, and Derrick White in his absence.

“With that being said, at the Celtics, there is a standard that we play to, that we uphold, regardless of who we have in the line-up, who’s in the team, who’s not.There’s a sense of pride that we have when we put that uniform on and we are always competing to win a championship,” he said.

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“I haven’t said I’m not playing this season… I don’t go to rehab 6 days a week for nothing.” 👀

— Jayson Tatumpic.twitter.com/L021pGGy31

— jb (@lockedupjb) September 23, 2025

The former Eastern Conference Finals MVP also shared that he is involved in a group chat with other NBA stars who suffered through a ruptured Achilles, such as Damian Lillard, Dejounte Murray, and Tyrese Haliburton, who also torn his in the postseason.

“We’ve all been in communication, Dejounte, Dame, Tyrese.We’re all at different points of our rehab and recovery,” Tatum revealed.

“I text them all the time to ask what can you do, and what are you doing in your workouts. We’re all in the same boat, just kind of checking in on each other. It’s all been very helpful,” he added.

Although there is no definite date of his potential return, Tatum promises that his first game back will be in the Celtics’ home, TD Garden.

“I put a date on the calendar of when I would be 100% ready and able to play. Whenever that date is, it will be a home game in front of the fans at TD Garden. That is something that I have dreamt about and envisioned,” Tatum said.

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