The Celtics medical staff attend to star forward Jayson Tatum, who suffered
right ruptured Achilles' tendon in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of an Eastern Conference semifinal against the Knicks Monday night in New York.
The Celtics medical staff attend to star forward Jayson Tatum, who suffered right ruptured Achilles' tendon in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of an Eastern Conference semifinal against the Knicks Monday night in New York.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
Recovering from a ruptured Achilles’ tendon is often a lengthy process. Jayson Tatum has taken the first step to his recovery from an Achilles’ injury, undergoing a successful surgery on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old Celtics star, who was felled by the season-ending injury late in a Game 4 loss to the Knicks Monday in New York, is expected to make a full recovery according to the team. But it was not clear how long Tatum would be out, or how much his game would be affected upon his return.
Recovery times can vary. Kevin Durant took 18 months to recover from a ruptured Achilles’ suffered during the 2019 NBA Finals. Kobe Bryant took a little less than eight months to return from his Achilles’ injury in 2013.
An Achilles’ injury is considered serious, and sometimes career-ending. According to a study in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, 34 of 47 NBA players who suffered a ruptured Achilles’ tendon between 1970 and 2019 returned to play with varying degrees of success.
There’s also a question of an injured player’s effectiveness after a lengthy recovery. Some have returned to All-Star form, while others have not been the same.
Here are a few examples of NBA players who who have endured Achilles’ injuries similar to Tatum’s.
Kevin Durant
Durant’s recovery took quite a while. He missed the entire 2020 season after suffering his injury in June of 2019, and didn’t return until December of 2020. It took even longer, around 700 days, he said, to feel like himself on the court.
Durant missed an average of 39 games per season over the following three years after his return, but eventually returned to All-Star form. The 36-year-old averaged 26.6 points per game this season for the Suns on 52.7 percent shooting.
Kobe Bryant
Bryant’s recovery timeline was far shorter than Durant’s but the injury appeared to have a more devastating impact on his career. He ruptured his Achilles’ on April 12, 2013, and came back on December 8, 2013. But his return was short-lived.
He lasted just six games before a fractured lateral tibial plateau in his left knee sidelined him for the rest of the season.
Bryant lasted just two more seasons, including an injury-plagued 2015 campaign during which he missed 50 games. He played 66 games in his final season in 2015-16, one which was marked by a precipitous decline in his scoring average to 17.6 points from 35.4 points in 2006.
Klay Thompson
Thompson missed the 2020 season with an ACL tear and missed the following season with a torn Achilles’. He was 30 at the time of the injury.
He played just 32 games for the Warriors in 2022 when he returned, but his numbers (21.9 points per game, 4.1 rebounds, 41.2 percent shooting from 3-point range) were comparable to previous years.
He has played in at least 69 games in each of the last three years, but his minutes, scoring average, and 3-point percentages all took hits. He averaged 14 points per game this season, his first with the Mavericks.
DeMarcus Cousins
Cousins was averaging 25.2 points and 12.9 rebounds with the Pelicans when he tore his Achilles’ in 2018. The 27-year-old was never the same player after suffering the injury.
He missed almost a full calendar year and played in just 30 games with the Warriors the following season in 2019.
He averaged fewer than 10 points per game in his final four seasons in the league, all of which came with different teams. He has been out of the league since 2022.
Dominique Wilkins
The former Hawks star returned to action 10 months after rupturing his Achilles’ in 1992 at age 32.
He played 71 games in 1993, averaged 29.9 points per game, and finished fifth in the MVP voting. He had one more season, in 1994, near the top of his game.
By 1995. he was on the Celtics in a different role than the one he was used to in Atlanta. He finished his Hall of Fame career after stints with the Spurs (63 games, 1996-97) and the Magic (27 games, 1998-99), retiring at age 39.