As the Celtics are surprisingly succeeding, Kenyon Martin dismissed a potential Jayson Tatum appearance this season.
The Boston Celtics have been a major revelation in this 2025-26 season.
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As of writing, the Celtics are currently standing as the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference with a 23-12 record. Upon the Achilles injury of Jayson Tatum and the offseason departures of Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford, no one envisioned that Boston would be at this stage of the year under Jaylen Brown's leadership.
Out of the Celtics' surprising success so far, many are discussing whether the Celtics should let Tatum play this season in order to compete for an NBA title. But for Kenyon Martin, Boston should completely keep the superstar forward out this year.
"He disrupts what they’ve built all year. If he comes back in April, the season’s basically over, because you’re trying to integrate him into playoff basketball," the former NBA star said on The Arena. "These dudes just played 80-something games together. They didn’t do it without him—it changed everyone’s roles and rotations."
Earning arguments from his claim, Martin said: "This is not football. You can’t play only one side of the ball."
Tatum notably suffered from a torn Achilles injury in last year's playoffs. As such, he is widely expected to miss this entire season.
Yet past reports and workout videos suggest that the All-Star is strongly attacking his ongoing rehabilitation. Previously, Brown stated that there is a possibility that Tatum will be back at some point this year.
It remains to be seen if the Celtics will activate Tatum this year. But the fact that Boston is playing well without him should serve as a clear warning to the rest of the NBA.
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