The Boston Celtics will begin their 2025-26 campaign tonight when they face Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers on their home floor.
However, Jayson Tatum won’t be involved in the action at any point in time.
Why isn’t Jayson Tatum playing tonight?
Tatum left the Celtics’ 2025 Game 4 Eastern Conference Semifinals contests against the New York Knicks with a brutal lower-body injury.
When Tatum first went down, many Celtics fans tried their best to remain optimistic that Tatum would find a way to finish the postseason.
However, ESPN’s Shams Charania revealed that Tatum suffered a torn Achilles tendon that would sideline him for the remainder of the playoffs and result in a lengthy rehab (The Celtics officially ruled him out for tonight's game on X/Twitter).
Will Tatum play at all with the Celtics this year? It’s difficult to determine, but the Duke product is certainly working his way back onto the hardwood.
From productive weight room sessions to mild on-court workouts (including two-footed dunks), Tatum has shown that he’s headed in the right direction months after a devastating end to his eighth NBA season.
Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game last year, shooting 45.2% from the field and 34.3% from three.
In the meantime, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White will embrace more significant offensive roles and ensure that the Celtics don’t fall off a cliff without Tatum in the rotation.
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