Jayson Tatum of the Celtics reacts on the basketball court.
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Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics may have left a clue about his return date.
Boston Celtics four-time All-NBA first teamer Jayson Tatum always gets plenty of attention. After eight seasons, am NBA championship, two trips to the Finals and six All-Star selections, there’s no doubt that the 28-year-old Tatum is one of the NBA’s best and most visible players. But he may never has received as much attention as he is getting now, in a season when he has not played a single game.
Tatum continues to rehab from a devastating injury to his right Achilles tendon that he suffered last May 12, in a playoff game against the New York Knicks. While the widespread assumption when he was diagnosed with a torn Achilles almost 10 months ago was that he would miss the entire 2025-2026 season. So far, that assumption has proved true.
But persistent rumors have held that Tatum will return to action with the Celtics, who have raced to a surprising 41-20 record without him and second place in the Eastern Conference, sometime in March. The Celtics nationally televised game against the Philadelphia 76ers on March 1 was widely believed to be a return target date, but that did not happen. Tatum was also listed as “out” on the Celtics injury report for Wednesday’s game at TD Garden against the Charlotte Hornets.
To a large extent, the rumors have been fueled by Tatum himself, with frequent social media video updates showing what appears to be his remarkable progress in rehabilitating from the Achilles injury. Perhaps more importantly, Tatum and NBC, the network which now has rights to weekly NBA games, are producing a five-part documentary series, titled The Quiet Work, with the fourth episode hitting screens during the Celtics-‘Sixers game.
But the documentary’s seemingly rapid release schedule has fans believing that Tatum and NBC are giving a new clue to Tatum’s return date.
What Does the Documentary Release Mean For Tatum’s Return Date?
In fact, the network unexpectedly aired not one but two episodes of The Quiet Work during Sunday’s game, which the Celtics won 114-98. The accelerated release immediately sent fans onto an online frenzy of speculation.
“The theory: Celtics fans suggest that this is a deliberate move to align the documentary’s finale with Tatum’s return to the court.
If NBC continues to release the remaining episodes over the next two Sundays, the series will conclude on March 15. This timing is suspiciously perfect because the Celtics are scheduled for a primetime home game at TD Garden on March 16 against the Phoenix Suns,” noted Caroline John of Essentially Sports.
March 16 a Date Also Noted Very Quietly by ESPN
It may mean nothing, or it may mean something that — as Heavy.com reported on Tuesday — ESPN.com has very quietly marked March 16 as the “estimated” date of Tatum’s return. On the ESPN.com preview page for the Celtics-Suns game on that date, the network shows Tatum still listed as “out” but also notes the March 16 estimated return date.
Alos interesting to note is that, while most speculation has assumed that Tatum’s return would come in a nationally televised Celtics game, at least at present, the March 16 meeting with Phoenix at TD Garden is the only one of the Celtics’ next seven games, after Wednesday, that is not scheduled for national TV on one of five different networks — which makes sense if Tatum would rather debut his repaired Achilles without the eyes of the NBA nation watching him.