Jayson Tatum has remained a visible presence around the team throughout his rehab.
Jayson Tatum has remained a visible presence around the team throughout his rehab.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has mostly been completing his Achilles injury rehab behind closed doors, with scattered podcast appearances offering occasional morsels about his progress.
But on Monday evening the Celtics created a stir when they sent out a press release saying that Tatum would take part in a practice with the team’s G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics. Then on Tuesday morning, buzz began to spread at the Auerbach Center that Tatum would conduct his first official interview session with Celtics reporters since media day in September.
The prospect of his looming return had begun to gain momentum.
Tatum had a brief chat with Amile Jefferson, a Celtics assistant and one of his closest friends, before walking slowly over toward a pile of cameras and voice recorders. But there was no big announcement about a return, or even really a concrete timeline. Instead, Tatum mostly maintained the consistent messaging that he and the Celtics have been putting out for months.
“I’m feeling good,” he said. “It was good to be a part of practice yesterday with the Maine G League guys. Today is 39 weeks, so it’s been a long journey. And it’s just like the progression of rehab. It was the next step. Doesn’t mean that I’m coming back or I’m not. It’s just following the plan. So, it’s just another step.”
Tatum was asked to provide a percentage chance of his return this season, but he mostly shrugged off the inquiry.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know the percentage. I just know I feel a little bit better every day. I just try to focus on that.”
Tatum suffered the Achilles injury during Game 4 of the Celtics’ conference semifinal series against the Knicks last May. Boston’s quest to repeat as champion ended two games later, and it then faced the grim reality that it could play this entire season without its injured superstar.
All along, Tatum has made it clear, publicly and privately, that he is going through this painstaking rehab process in hopes of returning this season. But it remains unclear if or when that will happen.
“Mentally it’s been tough,” Tatum said. “It’s been exhausting. I can’t stress it enough. It’s been 39 weeks. It’s been a lot of different phases throughout this process. But the organization has been there to support me, [along with] friends, family, the whole nine. I’ve had a lot of support throughout this.”
During an appearance last month on ‘The Pivot Podcast,’ Tatum cast doubt on the possibility of returning this season when he said he was leery of disturbing a team that had vaulted into second place in the Eastern Conference without him. On Tuesday, he said those comments were mostly the result of having so much idle time to think about his situation.
“Obviously, I know what I bring to the table and bring to the team, but I’m also aware that these guys have been playing extremely well,” he said. “And not to say that I would come and mess it up or anything like that. It was just kind of being vulnerable, I guess, for a moment, and talking from that perspective.”
Tatum said the Celtics roster consists of plenty of high-IQ players, including himself, so he is confident that he would quickly develop chemistry with this new group. Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens made it clear last week that once Tatum is healthy and comfortable, this basketball team will be better with him on the floor.
Tatum talked about taking steps in his progression numerous times during his 10-minute media session Tuesday. He vaguely referenced beginning five-on-five workouts, adding that he will continue to work on his conditioning and getting more full-contact reps.
“I’m not saying I’m coming back or I’m not,” he reiterated. “It’s all about being 100 percent healthy and going through the plan of this protocol.”
Tatum has remained a visible presence around the team throughout his rehab. He has traveled on most road trips, sat on the bench during games, and taken part in meetings and film sessions.
“These are like my brothers,” he said. “I know I’m injured and not playing, but I’d like to think I’m still very much part of the team. When you’re out and injured you can feel isolated because you’re not playing, so just being around, encouraging them, and being around as much as possible is good for me and my spirits, just being around as much as I can.”
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.