Jayson Tatum sounded sure he would return to the court for an eventual Boston Celtics playoff run in 2026.
Everything seemed to be trending in the right direction. The forward’s mind was right, he was putting together impressive workouts amid his Achilles injury recovery, and the Celtics just needed to give him a reason to return.
All they had to do was prove that the gap year theory wasn’t real. The Celtics have avoided a full-on tank job for the year. They’re not only decent—they are one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference still. All is well with the Celtics, who are 29-18, tied for second with the New York Knicks.
It’s obvious that if Tatum’s plans were to return for a serious playoff run, he has the green light. However, the forward is backtracking a bit. He’s not shutting himself down for the entire 2025-2026 season, but the idea is suddenly in play.
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© Nathan Ray Seebeck
How Are NBA Fans Responding?
“This was always gonna be the case. Achilles injuries take a long time to fully heal. … with how the East is, the Celtics have a good shot to make it to the finals without him anyway,” user Ilikesporks_ wrote on Reddit.
“It takes a long time to build back the strength to pre-injury level too,” Sportslegend added.
“It was always a foregone conclusion that Tatum was going to try to give it a go and return at some point during the season after suffering that Achilles tear,” NBA Insider Chris Haynes said on Wednesday night. “League sources just informed me right now that Jayson Tatum is now reevaluating his situation, and it is up in the air on if he's going to return at all this season.”
One fan speculated that the Celtics’ front office frontman, Brad Stevens, must’ve told Tatum they aren’t going to be able to swing a trade for a position of need before the deadline for a “deep playoff run.”
Several others simply assumed that maybe a minor setback is in play, or reality simply settled in.
“I wonder if he had a setback. It looked, at least publicly, like he’d been ahead of schedule and a lot of the conversation seemed to be sooner rather than later sort of speak,” a fan added.
No Matter What, the Celtics Are Good
I don’t think anybody would’ve faulted the Celtics for taking the tanking route this season. But knowing Joe Mazzulla, that was never an option. Boston got some important answers this season. Can Jaylen Brown lead the way as a 1A? Absolutely.
Are the Celtics desperate without Jrue Holiday, who was critical to their recent championship run? That’s clearly not the case. They’re not perfect, but they are good. Tatum is typically an MVP-caliber forward, but the team is still rolling without him. If they win the East without him—miraculous run. If they don’t make a deep run—that’s a helluva gap year anyway.
If Tatum can take more time off than desired, he should. Why risk rushing back? The decision isn’t final, but the situation is trending in a totally different direction as February approaches.
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