Jayson Tatum had 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists in his first game back from a torn Achilles.
Jayson Tatum had 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists in his first game back from a torn Achilles.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
Given everything he went through and everything he had to give— time, sweat, and tears — to get back on a basketball court, Jayson Tatum earned every right to celebrate his return to NBA action like Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and the Second Coming all rolled into one. Yet, ultimately, the true measure of his comeback from a torn Achilles tendon will be how little we remember it years from now.
As magical and emotional as Tatum’s return was last Friday at TD Garden, nine months and 22 days after he crumpled to the court at Madison Square Garden last May, the desire should be that it’s not one of the defining victories of his career. That the injury just ends up as a footnote to an on-court oeuvre highlighted by championships, MVPs, and remarkable performances. That the Parquet Pantheon track Tatum was on before the injury remains unbroken. Such was the case for the author of arguably the greatest injury bounce-back in Boston sports history, Tom Brady, after he returned from a torn ACL in his left knee, suffered in 2008.
The legendary Patriots quarterback is the paragon of a player returning from a career-threatening injury and relegating that injury to the dustbin of history. Sure, Brady’s first game back, a comeback victory over the Buffalo Bills (thank you, Leodis McKelvin) in New England’s 2009 season opener, punctuated by a touchdown pass to Benjamin Watson with 55 seconds remaining, was memorable. But it doesn’t rank among the top five moments of Brady’s career, even the top 10. That’s the point. His comeback remained a plot point of prologue, not a defining chapter.
There’s no notable line of demarcation in Brady’s performance pre-ACL tear and post-ACL tear. He won four championships and two MVPs — it should’ve been three — after the injury. He commanded two of the greatest comebacks in Super Bowl history. He led the league in passing touchdowns three times and passing yards twice.
Sometimes you have to remind yourself that Brady suffered the injury. It didn’t deter him or define him. It failed to impact the hourglass of TB12’s greatness. Similarly, Tatum must turn adversity into a Wikipedia annotation.
JT looks up to it, based on how well he performed in his first two games. The near triple-double in his debut against the Mavericks was impressive. However, Sunday’s victory over Cleveland provided reassurance that the Celtics franchise forward will recover his full All-NBA form.
He dropped 12 points in the first quarter on his way to a 20-point effort, got to the free-throw line — a Tatum staple, pre-injury — seven times, and played stellar defense against Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. Most encouragingly, he had the strength and the lift to finish twice at the rim against reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley.
A la Kevin Durant, who also bounced back from a torn Achilles, Tatum will always be able to get jumpers off because of his height, length, and high release. Converting at the rim is the test of his hoops hero’s journey.
One basket over Mobley, a creature worthy of mythology, came on a 93-foot foray after snagging a defensive rebound. The other one, Tatum spun baseline, up-faked, and elevated before Mobley could challenge his shot.
“Obviously, there is a ton of grace that you want to show,” said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, postgame. “But once you step between those lines, there’s also non-negotiables that you got to do. You got to rebound. You got to defend, and you got to compete. He’s doing that.”
With Tatum’s return, it’s easy for the Celtics to fantasize about a bridge year becoming a banner season. The East is wide open. No team in the Eastern Conference can match the Celtics firepower with a healthy Tatum. Jaylen Brown, who flirted with a triple-double versus Cleveland, carried the Celtics and exponentially improved his playmaking in Tatum’s absence.
Tatum doesn’t have to carry this team. He just has to give it a playoff push.
Celtics greats are measured in championships. Nothing would burnish Tatum’s legacy more than helping the Green redecorate the rafters again. He referenced that after winning title No. 1 in 2024.
“Now you get to at least be in the same room with the other Celtics great teams, great players,” said Tatum on 2024-2025 media day. “All the guys I looked up to growing up won at least one championship. Now, it’s just a conversation of, ‘How great are you trying to be? What room or what tier are you trying to be mentioned in when it’s all said and done?’ And understanding the window you have to maximize that time.”
After the injury, Tatum understands how precious time is. It’s not a given for any of us. Every day is a potential existential threat.
“Yeah, I don’t think any athlete ever thinks they’re going to get hurt, at least I didn’t. It never crossed my mind,” Tatum said following his cathartic return last Friday. I felt like I did everything right, took care of my body, and I didn’t cheat the game.
“So, when it happened, it literally knocked me on my [butt], and it just kind of made me rethink a lot of things. I had an idea of how my career was going to go, and one night it changed. What I’ve realized is that many great athletes go through ups and downs in their career, but it’s another thing to live it.
“The things that I want to accomplish are still in front of me, but how you get there looks different for everybody. It has been tough. … But I’m really just happy that I even got to this point.”
He earned that happiness.
At 28, the signature moments of Tatum’s career, hopefully, are still ahead of him. The long-term measuring stick for his comeback will be how little we remember it in the grand scheme of a great career.
Brady is probably an unfair analogue for almost any professional athlete. Tatum plays a different sport with different athletic requirements. He suffered a different injury.
But a Brady-like return should be what Tatum and his version of Brady’s body coach/confidant Alex Guerrero, trainer Nick Sang, aim for as the encore of his comeback tour.
The goal should be for the effect the Achilles injury has on his legacy to match his jersey number: 0.
Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com. Follow him @cgasper and on Instagram @cgaspersports.