As the Boston Celtics prepare for the 2025-26 campaign, there’s a notable void on the court for them without Jayson Tatum. After he tore his Achilles tendon in the playoffs last season, Tatum is still working his way back to full health as the new season gets underway.
Achilles tears often take basketball players 10-12 months to recover from, and while the Celtics are obviously hoping to get Tatum back as soon as possible, they aren’t going to rush him back into action before he’s healthy enough to play.
From the get-go, though, Tatum has seemed to be ahead of schedule when it comes to his injury rehab. The latest clip he shared of himself on social media, as he continues to ramp up his activity, showed him doing standing dunks, which is incredible since the injury didn’t even occur five months ago.
Reports emerged on Thursday indicating that Tatum wants to return to action for Boston in March. As his teammates continue to witness the incredible progress he is making, Xavier Tillman recently shared his reaction to what Tatum is doing.
“It is crazy impressive,” Tillman said of Tatum, per Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. “I mean, I’m seeing this guy do like box jumps and stuff like that. And I’m like, ‘Huh!? What!?’”
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The Celtics are obviously going to have to make it through the majority of the season without Tatum, but if they are still in contention late in the year, they could get a big boost with the return of Tatum. Whether or not they could contend for a title is unknown, but it is worth noting that the Eastern Conference appears to be wide open this year.
While Tatum continues rehabbing his injury, the C’s are going to continue getting ready for the new campaign. After taking down the Memphis Grizzlies in their preseason opener on Wednesday night, Boston will return to action on Friday night for a meeting with the Toronto Raptors.