BIRMINGHAM, Mich.— Behind the scenes and away from the cameras, Jayson Tatum has been tirelessly rehabbing from the Achilles tendon rupture he suffered last May.
Occasionally, the Celtics star has shared glimpses of his workouts on his YouTube channel and Instagram, but he has yet to let the media in for an extensive, unfiltered look at his recovery.
That all changed on Monday morning, when Tatum took the floor for a 45-minute workout in front of more than a half-dozen reporters at Seaholm High School, a school located in a northern suburb of Detroit, where the Celtics held shootaround ahead of Monday night’s primetime game against the Pistons.
Tatum began his morning with some form shooting from various spots on the court, then went through various, more active shooting drills: getting threes off of screens, practicing off-the-dribble pull-ups, and driving to the basket for dunks and layup with defensive pressure. He seemed to demonstrate an increased level of explosion, shot efficiently from various spots on the court, and got to his usual spots in the midrange.
Throughout the workout, Celtics assistant coach Tony Dobbins guarded Tatum pretty aggressively, while Craig Luschenat, the team’s head of player development, directed traffic. Dobbins guarded Tatum with an undeniable level of physicality — hand-checking him, and poking the ball out of his hands at time. (For reference, Dobbins was named the French League’s best defender three times in his EuroLeague basketball career — and while he wasn’t going all out, he was certainly upping the pressure).
Steve Tchiengang, one of the Celtics’ player enhancement coaches, partook in drills as a screener and passer, as did Tatum’s former Duke University teammate, Celtics assistant coach Amile Jefferson. Tatum’s trainer, Nick Sang, took the floor to watch.
The workout was not a full-speed NBA workout, but pre-injury, Tatum also often went through his shooting drills as half-speed, so this fact isn’t particularly notable. Luka Garza, Payton Pritchard, and several other Celtics watched Tatum’s workout from the sidelines after they concluded their own film study and shootaround obligtions.
You can watch the highlights from Tatum’s workout for yourself on the